Force of Wills: The Ties That Bind
by Shiloh Taemi
Summary: Cipher 9, Agent Shiloh Chint'aro has been sent to Imperial high security prison, she was spared a brutal death at the hands of a Sith Lord, but why she was allowed to live remains a secret. Her knowledge, her power has been spread across the galaxy, set in motion by unlikely players. A race has been set, clues hidden across the galaxy, and the ties that bind pull tighter.
1. Chapter 1: Shadowtown

The black had faded, and his eyes had reverted back to their natural sage green when he died, the pheromonic bond broken in death. The Oroboro hive would retain his memories, but the song had changed, turned melancholy, when the Dawn Herald had passed on. That sage green had been reserved for her, and her alone, he kept this ability for special occasions, it was a gift he gave her, for she loved those eyes, and she was a selfish woman, who did not want to share their beauty with the greater Galaxy. Her voice had gone hoarse with screams beseeching anyone to let him live, let him stay with her. He was the good, the calming force in her turbulent world, he had seen her through so much, and he was stolen away, never to return on the whim of a Sith.

When Shiloh ran, the brute thought it was from him, that she ran out of fear, she did not fear his fists, or boots or any other depraved punishment he had formed in his mind. She ran to Vector, to close his eyes, those sage green eyes that belonged to her. He would not stare blankly and reveal their beauty to anyone else. She reached his lifeless form, his skin still warm, and delicately closed his unseeing eyes, she caressed his hair, and laid him down gently, careful not to jostle or hurt him, even as the Brute pulled her by her hair, pulled her away from her beloved. As the door closed behind them, she let out a desperate scream, there was no pain like this, knowing she would never see him again, nothing she had ever experienced hurt so much as that moment.

She lay on the cold concrete, staring at a wall, staring at nothing, her voice gone, but the tears had not let up, they spilled out of her eyes, forming a puddle under her now bald head. Her thick navy hair had been shorn off, four neat stitches now graced the base of her skull. She blinked, more tear spilled out. She hugged the floor, her hands making a loose fist, she thought she could smell him. Time passed, seconds, minutes, hours, days, Shiloh didn't know, she didn't care, if she waited long enough, she might die, she blinked again, when her eyes opened, pale sage green stared back at her. He was laying on the floor beside her.

"They shaved your head." Vector stated to her, informing her.

"You're not real." Shiloh whispered back, informing him.

"I know, but you need me right now, so I'm here." He spoke softly, his voice was still melodic and calming.

Shiloh found it odd to hear him speak in singular first person, using I and me instead of us or we, but then his eyes were no longer black.

"I lost my connection to the hive when I died." Explaining what she already knew, but speaking to the thought that was in her mind. "I can switch, appear to you as you used to know me, if it would help you?"

"No, I like you like this."

Vector smiled at her, caressing her cheek, she could almost feel him.

"So what are you going to do now?" He asked her, Shiloh could see other boots in her peripheral vision, but she didn't dare look away from those sage green eyes, lest she lose them again.

"Die" She whispered, matter of factly.

Vector's smile faded, he shook his head.

"No, it's not your time." He said soberly.

Shiloh blinked, he was gone again, tears spilled out of her eyes, adding to the puddle.

Quinn sat at the spare metal desk that had been provided to him, he ran his hands over his bald head again, he absently touched the stitches at the base of his skull, and closed his eyes. Life had been a mercy when Ardyth had spared him after trying to kill her. Death would have been a mercy this time, he was in purgatory, or hell, he hadn't been here long enough to determine which.

He and the Chiss shared a small cell, no more than 100 square feet, two metal cots, with thin scratchy blankets, a refresher with no door. Not that the Chiss was even using it at the moment, she had not moved from her spot on the floor in the week they had been there. At least he thought it was a week, there was no day or night where they were, the florescent lights blinked maddeningly, in the hallway beyond their cell, there was no light other then the data pad that had been provided to him, and it only contained a list. There were no clocks, they had taken his watch, they had fed them seven meals so far, seven bland meals that had been an odd grey colour, and weak luke warm tea to wash it down with. He shifted in the clothes that had been provided. Malavai Quinn, was used to tailored, well fitting clothes made from luxurious fabrics, he and the Chiss wore matching orange tunics, and drawstring pants. The shoes were no more than thin slippers, no socks, no laces. So far they had been given one change of clothes. Malavai had changed the Chiss himself, braving the stench that had started coming off of her, washed away her filth, her eyes had been wet, and blank, not aware, not seeing anything, not feeling as his cold hands handled her roughly as he changed her like a child. The small had abated some.

He had been given two responsibilities, one would keep his youngest daughter alive, the other would kill his eldest, but would also mercifully kill him. In order to keep Oriah alive, he had to keep Shiloh alive. So far that had been easy, he had pulled the drawstrings from her pants, lest she decided to finally move and hang herself. He had managed to spoon feed her some of the weak tea, and some spoon fulls of the mystery grey mush. Still he had been provided a basic med kit that he kept on a tall shelf in the refresher.

His second responsibility was to locate Mitka, and supply that location to Ardyth, so that she might kill her. He had not been provided the tools with which to do that yet, he would need a holonet link, but that would also mean more light, giving him the time, the date, allowing him access to information. He imagined his wife wanted him broken, or half mad, so that the idea of killing his daughter would seem more palatable, make him desperate for death. It was a sound plan, something he himself would have suggested doing. He rubbed his bald head, and shivered.

Shiloh had gradually become aware of another presence, a real presence, not a ghost. It was a man, he seemed vaguely familiar, he would feed her and bath her, she hated him. If he would just leave her alone, her body would wither away, and she would die, and then she could be with Vector again.

"What makes you think we will be together in death, sweet love?" Vector asked her.

Shiloh's eyes narrowed, "How could we not be?"

Chance, stepped forward then, "You really don't know?"

Watcher X kneeled into her view, "Good people are rewarded in death."

Then Hunter, beautiful dead Hunter purred to her, "You are not a good person."

Vector smiled sadly at her, "You have a good heart, it just took you too long to find it." Trying to soften the blow.

"Weigh your sins against your good deeds Shiloh, You were delightfully evil." Winked Hunter, who circled the familiar man.

"Then how, Vector how?" Shiloh was desperate, terrified of the thought at having truly lost him forever.

"Redeem yourself."

It was around meal eleven while Quinn attempted to feed Shiloh that the isolation of their cell was broken. Two guards entered , one subduing Quinn, the other hefting Shiloh over his shoulder. He carried her out, and the energy shield that served at the fourth wall of their cell blinked back on, Quinn hurried and followed the Guards form down the corridor, at the end of the hallway stood a figure. A figure he knew. The Sith lord met Quinns eyes, and smiled, then turned to follow the guards. Quinn knew then why he had been given a med kit. Suicide wasn't the only thing that threatened her life.


	2. Chapter 2: Shadowtown

Shiloh was brought to a small room with a torture device, she eyed it wearily. The lights in the room were too bright, she blinked against them. The guard stood her against it, and the energy bars held her still, held her up. Lord Kaervrek strode into view, smiled darkly.

"Shiloh, it's been too long." His voice was smooth as silk, his deep orange eyes bore into her. This sith knew Shiloh, knew her intimately. He had been her ticket to power, to knowledge, she had been young and ambitious, he had been older, attractive, he had found her exotic, and had enjoyed her skills both in the bedroom and out. She had proven herself infinitely useful, and had even eliminated his biggest rival Darth Jadus, she had promised him the codex, but she had failed to deliver, claimed it had been destroyed. Kaervrek knew better, but he was a patient man, there was a right time for everything. He was the reason Ardyth had not killed her alongside Vector.

"I know it's not the private room at the Mist in Kaas city, but it's not the location that matters, it's the company, and I always did enjoy your company." He eyed her thin body, and bald head, he still thought she was beautiful. Shiloh stared back at him, not speaking, not playing his games, she had played them enough. Vector had not reappeared, neither had the others, in this room, with her former lover and master, she was alone.

"You know what I want. The Black Codex." He walked over to the controls, flipped a switch, the pain started coursing through her. "Don't give away all your secrets, I'de like to savor this time together, and I look forward to many more soirees."

Shiloh rode the pain, clenched her teeth against it, there was nothing Kaervrek could do to her, nothing he could take from her now that he or his daughter had not already taken. He turned the controls up a notch.

"Come Shiloh, you have such a lovely singing voice." Kaervrek was a patient man. Sure enough, involuntarily, her voice was heard, it was a natural reaction to cry out in pain, she fought it well, he fed on her anguish. Shadowtown was rife with it, but Shiloh's was still new, open. Her pain had not festered for years, it was fresh and it made her beautiful, he breathed in her suffering, it was rare to have such a raw subject. Her body convulsed, he turned the dial down, her lovely song ended for now. The imposing Sith Lord walked over to her, he took her head in his hands and ran one over the short stubble that had begun to grow back, he wiped away her tears. Beautiful.

"I've missed you dear girl. Truly, I look forward to spending time with you again." He kissed her very gently on the lips, he tasted her disgust, and smiled. "Until next time."


	3. Chapter 3: Drummond Kaas

Pierce and Ardyth lay in a tangle of sheets, a sheen on sweat on both their bodies, still he gathered her to him, and she lay her head on his shoulder. Their breathing calmed. They had barely left her bedroom in the days following Quinns arrest.

Ardyth propped herself up on her elbow, leaning on her lover. Her deep red hair brushed against his chest as she kissed his collar bone. Pierce let out a low growl and pulled her face to his own then kissed her.

"Woman, I require food, rest" he looked around at their clothes thrown about her chamber, "clean clothes. Don't you have that meeting at the dark temple today, as much as I love you sweaty and disheveled you might want to take a shower, alone this time."

Ardyths pouted prettily, as she let a hand slip below the sheets, and kissed him again.

"What did I just say?" He slipped out of bed exposing her, he admired the view for a moment then slipped into his clothing.

"You humans are so weak." Ardyth threw a pillow at him.

"And you Sith are insatiable." Throwing the pillow back at her.

Ardyth finally got out of bed, her legs were unsteady and she hated that Pierce was right about them needing to rest. His wallet lay at her feet she picked it up, and flipped it open playfully.

"Hand it over" his voice was serious.

His Ident card looked up at her from the wallet, and she read the name James Arenson Pierce II. How did she not know Pierces first name was James?

"James Arenson Pierce the second."

He grabbed the wallet from her hands, "I said hand it over. And don't call me that, Pierce will do just fine."

"What's wrong with James? It's a nice enough name." Taken aback by his sudden shift in mood, she could sense an old, deep rooted anger there. He stalked out of her room leaving her standing naked and confused, it dawned on Ardyth that she knew very little about her new Captain. She set her mind to the meeting and headed towards the shower.

Pierce bristled as he walked, a crash broke his dark thoughts and turned towards the sound, he reached the study. There were cracks in the walls and ceiling from where Ardyth had thrown Quinn before having him dragged away. On the floor by the desk lay a large pile of books, another came crashing down, he followed the trajectory up, and laid eyes on a green dress, and cascading red hair tied in a black bow. She was half way up the book shelf, hanging on with one hand and her feet while the other hand traced the title of another book before pulling that one down as well.

Pierce knew who she was, little Oriah Quinn. He walked up to her, she was so focused on her task that she didn't hear him, it was only when she looked up and his face stared back at her that she startled, and lost her grip. He caught her easily enough as she fell.

"Got you."

She scrambled out of his grips, and hastily started loading the books into a small wagon. She stopped and looked up at him, Pierce shivered, he had seen that look too many times to count from her father.

"You took my papa away." She accused, she had seen him do it.

"I did." Pierce admitted, this was not a child to lie to, and he was never one to sugar coat anything.

"Why?" her little voice demanded.

"He was a traitor." He replied simply.

Oriah had heard that word a lot, but her young mind, quick as it was, still did not know its meaning. She furrowed her brow. She didn't like the big man, but he didn't lie, he didn't make fun of her the way Marek did or just ignore her like her mother did.

"What does Traitor mean?" She asked tentatively.

"A traitor is someone who has gone against the Emperor and the Empire."

That wasn't right, her father loved the Emperor, he had been a Major, the big man was lying.

"No, my papa, loved the Empire. He's not a traitor."

The big man smiled at her, a crooked smile, his grey eyes were sad, she didn't want his pity, she wanted her papa back.

"You're papa, displeased your mother, who is the Emperor's Wrath, by displeasing her, he displeased the Emperor." Pierce explained it gently, he understood her pain more then she knew.

Oriah didn't like that either, her mother was always displeased with her, did that make her a traitor too?

"My papa is not a traitor, you bring him back." She demanded.

"Afraid I can't do that little mouse."

Oriah scowled at the nick name, "I'm not a mouse, I'm Oriah." She turned on her heels and dragged her wagon full of her father's books back to her room.

He watched Malavai Quinn's daughter walk away, it was unsettling how alike they were. James Arenson Pierce Senior had been a terrible traitor, Pierce knew the weight of being the child of a disgrace. Still he found it hard to pity her, there was too much of her father in her.


	4. Chapter 4: Coruscant

A wink and a smile, a promise of something more. He lumbered his great girth around another corner, she was young, at the very cusp of womanhood. It was his favorite dish, her grey eyes appeared again, teasing him, yearning for him, her lips parted slightly, the flash of a bright pink tongue. Sweat dripped down his forehead as he tried to catch her, she had disappeared again. He felt himself falling then, having tripped on something invisible, his arms too short, his stomach too large he fell with a great thud. His limbs flailed as he tried to get his bearing, he had dismissed his aids, his droids. He hadn't wanted any witnesses, he was a senator after all, and his tastes were generally frowned upon in the Republic. Her bald head popped into view, a mocking grin on her full lips, he smiled, he had never had a Rattataki thing young before, and certainly never a free one. They had all been slaves, without spirit, this one was different.

"Come girl, help me up, and we can return to my room." He wheezed, his attempt at charm falling flat.

She laughed at him, looked at something beyond him, he heard the whine to a blaster charging, he had been had.

"By the force Teah, can I shoot this one? It's the same slob that ruined Sala." Sala had been another street kid, a Mirialan. Avacynne's trigger finger itched, she held her stolen blaster steady, a prize from another disgusting freak who wanted to bed children, Rateah didn't answer her right away, she was busy removing every last credit the fat senator had. He was whimpering.

"What?" Reteah counted the money, over one thousand credits in total, she knew he would be a profitable mark. Ava waved the pistol in his face, wordlessly repeating her question.

"Yeah, go for it, have fun!" She replied brightly. The fat senator screamed, cursed and bribed before Ava scattered his depraved brains onto the concrete floor. Teah handed half the credits over to Ava, and they walked away, tonight they would have a hot meal and a warm bed. They walked away arm in arm.


	5. Chapter 5: Shadowtown

Shiloh had been unceremoniously deposited back in her cell. Quinn had the meager med kit out and ready, no kolto, only rudimentary salves and bandages, nothing to truly numb the pain, he scowled. By his calculations it had been three months since they had entered Shadowtown, it had been Shiloh's third visit by Lord Kaervrek. He always gave her just enough time to recover from her wounds before inflicting new ones. He helped her to the metal cot, she was no longer a usless lump, she used the fresher, ate her own meals, she spoke, albeit to herself. Occasionally she acknowledge him, but mostly she spoke to herself. He went to work applying salve to the burn marks where the electricity had entered and escaped her body, gave her a mug of water, and bandaged her wounds.

Shiloh drank the water and closed her eyes as Malavai tended her wounds. Her short blue hair matted her head from the sweat, being tortured was hard work, and she was exhausted. When she opened her eyes, Vector hovered over Malavai's shoulders.

"Thank him."

Shiloh grit her teeth, this was the same man who had left her for dead in Gundark country back on Drummond Kaas. She didn't want to thank him.

"Still you should thank him, he's kept you alive."

She still had mixed feelings about that, she hadn't wanted to live, yet Vector assured her, until she could find redemption, he would not be there if she did die.

"He needs you, and you need him, his soul is as tortured as your own, he's on the same journey as you." Vector prodded her again.

Shiloh lifted her hand to her face, and brushed Quinns arm instead, it was warm, real. He stopped what he was doing, the sudden touch breaking his concentration, eyes met, red on blue. Shiloh saw him then, truly saw him. His black hair short, as short as hers though his face was covered in a short unkept black beard, she noticed tiny flecks of grey throughout. His expression was defeated, hopeless, lonely.

"Thank you Malavai" She managed, her hand had actually turned to hold his arm, the warmth beneath her fingers a comfort. Kaervrek touched her, it was always full of malice, it turned her stomach of what little contents it held.

Malavai took her hand, and turned it up, he applied the salve to her palm where there was another burn mark. He wrapped it in a neat bandage. He looked back, she was still studying him intently, it was strange to be noticed after so much time being ignored. He cleared his throat, his voice rusty, seldom used these past few months.

"You're welcome." He absently held her bandaged hand, the need for human touch holding them together for a moment longer. Eventually he lowered her onto her hard metal cot, and placed both blankets on her, she closed her eyes. Malavai turned to leave, to do nothing, to get lost in thought, when she took his hand again.

"Stay with me."She whispered.

Malavai pulled the metal chair over, he held her hand and watched her sleep, until his own eyes grew heavy, bent over, his head rested on her chest, the beat of her heart lulled him to sleep. In her dream Shiloh wrapped her other arm around Vector, holding him close.


	6. Chapter 6: Dantooine

Mitka stormed into the house, tears streaming down her face, the pretty green bow her mother had put in her hair that morning clutched tightly in her hand, one of her braids undone.

"I hate school!" She wailed before she folded into her mother's arms and started crying a new.

Mitka had just come home from her first day of school, and it had sadly not gone well. Ainsley had worried herself sick about her youngest starting school, Dantooine was a nice place on paper, but it was far enough away from the core worlds that people tended to be close minded about anything different, and a little girl who looked like a Sith, technically was a Sith, was a subject of fear, hate and scorn.

Sure enough her two older children walked in the door shortly after, Aaron had a black eye, and Cohen a bloody nose, they each handed her a note from the teacher.

"Seriously boys? On the first day of school?" Ainsley had accepted the fact that her boys could be trouble makers, Cohen especially, he had a knack of speaking his mind and being the class clown, he had charisma and charm and an eye for mischief, landing himself in trouble or the principal's office. Aaron was quiet and serious, but big, and other boys liked to test themselves against him, taunting him, starting unfair fights, Aaron would defend himself and the other boys usually ended up far worse off than he did. Or he would step in if his little brother needed him, and they would both end up in trouble.

"Wasn't our fault mom!" whined Cohen, it was a favorite phrase.

"They were picking on Mitka, pulling her hair, calling her dirty Sith, and ugly." Big 9 year old Aaron explained, "I tried to just grab her, but they wouldn't let me, so.." Her sweet boy, gave Mitka a muddied doll, she had brought it with her that morning. Mitka grabbed it and hugged her big brother.

Ainsley put her fingers to her temples and sighed. Corso walked in then, and saw the scene in front of him.

"Seriously boys? On the first day of school?"

"Wasn't our fault dad!" Cohen repeated

Ainsley explained what had happened, Cohen could spin a web, but Aaron was not one to lie. Corso picked his daughter up and gave her a big squeeze.

"I'm sorry you had a rotten first day darlin, c;mon I need help bottle feeding some of the Ronto calves." Mitka's eyes brightened, she wiped her eyes and and skipped out towards the barn, he shooed the boys outside and waited.

"Corso, I told you this would happen, first day and they wanted to give her a whooping. All they see is what she looks like." Ainsley pleaded.

"What do you want me to do Ainsley? We can't protect them all the time. We'll teach her how to defend herself just like her brothers." Corso was tired of this argument.

"She's a good girl, all she wants to do is play with her dolls and play with the calves, she's not a fighter, she has a gentle spirit."Ainsley felt close to tears, she just wanted to protect her babies but knew that she could be with them all the time, she thought again, that she might home school them.

"So do you babe, didn't stop you from picking up a blaster, or punching someone who deserves it. You always said that your princess would be the self rescuing kind." Corso hugged her.

"I just didn't think it would happen so soon, she's still so little." Ainsley leaned her head on her husbands shoulder. "We could move, somewhere closer to the core, someplace a little more tolerant."

Corso felt his heart drop, he had fallen in love with the life, the land, he wasn't ready to give up on it yet.

"Give it some time, she's got her brothers to watch over her, let's try talking to the teacher again."

Ainsley nodded, they needed a new teacher, not the old as dirt, stuck in her ways, prejudiced old marm that already disliked the name Riggs. She heard a loud squeal of laughter as Cohen chased Mitka with the hose, they were already soaked, Aaron tackled Cohen and turned the hose on his brother.

"You go take care of that, I'll get everyone a change of clothes." Ainsley smiled, maybe everything would be alright, maybe Mitka would adjust, make a friend, she was a sponge, like Cohen, loved learning, she was great with numbers. She heard her daughter squeal again as she doused Corso, at the very least she hoped the love in this house would sustain her.


	7. Chapter 7: Shadowtown

It was Lord Kaervreks 12th visit, and he celebrated the one year anniversary with his subject. Her hair had grown back and fell loosely around her shoulders, Shiloh still hadn't given up her secrets, and she was well used to the pain. Kaervrek arrived with a new tactic.

"I've brought you a gift Shiloh." He said smoothly, "a friend."

Raina Temple entered the torture chamber, her bright face dismayed at the sight of her former mentor. Shiloh nearly laughed, if he had hoped to bring someone whom she trusted, or even cared about he had gravely miscalculated.

"Shiloh, how are you? Are they treating you well?" asked the dark skinned beauty.

"They are treating me wonderfully, well besides the bomb in my brain and the regular torture. Fantastic." Shiloh spat out sarcastically, it earned her a full body shock. "See? Lovely!"

Temple frowned, their relationship had never been the same after she had killed her father, Shiloh had been vehemently against the action, and had turned cold upon her return. Shiloh had dismissed her, and sent her to the new Sith Intelligence to continue her training as a Cipher agent. Shiloh wasn't surprised to see her with Kaervrek, he attracted ambitious naïve Imperials to him like flies to shit. Doubly so if said Imperial had close ties to his favorite torture subject.

"I want to help you." Temple said evenly.

"You want to help yourself" Shiloh corrected her, "You want to impress him" she jerked her head towards Kaervrek.

"I found your mother."

Shilohs eyes narrowed.

"She met me on the Csillian orbital station, my ties with the Aristocracy got me that far at least." Each word wormed its way into Shiloh's head, she blinked.

"She told me about her stay on Drummond Kaas, about you're mysterious hospital stay, about your sister." Her voice echoed in Shiloh's mind, begging the truth.

"You did a bad thing, bringing her to Tython, betraying the Empire like that, she should have been Sith." Raina was very close to her face, her sweet brown eyes intent.

"I've sent an assassin after her." Lies, or truth, Shiloh couldn't focus, did they know? Not possible.

"But if you help me, I can call him back, save your sister, where did you hide the codex?" It took all of Shiloh's will to break free from the mind trick.

"You've gotten better at that over the years Raina, you would have made a wonderful little Sith. Shame your father didn't hand you over to them, would have saved him a great deal of trouble."

"I did my duty, I served the Empire." Hissed the Cipher.

"You killed your father, when you could have saved him. You owed him that much." Spat Shiloh, she hated her, this woman, so much like the way she was.

"Save him? Like you saved your father." Temple had a look of triumph on her pretty little face. "You're mother told me all about it, told me why she sent you to the Empire. Told me why you can't go back to Csilla."

"Don't"

"You stabbed him, with his own vibroknife. Angry girl, you left him out in the snow, he died of hypothermia, you left him bleeding to death in the cold."

"I went to get help, it was an accident." Whispered Shiloh, remembering the cold night, remembering being angry at her father, angry he would miss yet another dance recital. She had practiced so hard, knowing he would be home this time, her feet were riddled with blisters. He had to leave, he worked for the empire, for Intelligence, he couldn't tell her where he was going, or when he'd be back. Only that he had to go, that he was sorry.

"How is slitting someones throat an accident?"accused Temple.

A tear ran down Shiloh's cheek. She was shocked, tears acting as electric conduits singing her cheeks.

"Answer the question." Lord Kaervrek demanded from his post.

"I, was angry, that he was leaving again….he tried to hug me…I didn't want him to go…I grabbed his knife from his vest….and I." Shiloh choked on the word.

"What did you do?"

"I killed him. I slit his throat. I never wanted to hear him say he was sorry, but he had to go again….so I slit his throat, and he never left Csilla again."Shiloh relived the moment as she spoke the words, the anger dissipating the instant he fell, the red stain in the snow, her begging her father not to die, how red her hands were. Her mother screaming, and crying, Shiloh apologizing over and over again. She never understood why or how her mother had forgiven her, but she had. Still she was banished, sent to the Empire, to its best military academy, where she was molded into a person who could slit throats without thinking, without question. She didn't dance again until she met Vector.

"Don't you dare judge me." Temple grabbed her face and spit on her, turned on her heels and walked out of the room.

Kaervrek slowly walked over to her, wiped the saliva and tears from her face, caressing her gently.

"You're father was Ordic Chint'aro, I worked closely with him, I called him away from his leave early, and you killed him."Kaervrek revealed, "You are who you are because of me and I will drag every last secret out of you, until you are an empty husk."

Quinn tended her wounds, Shiloh stared off, it wasn't Vector, or Hunter, or Chance or Watcher X today, it was her father. The first man she had ever loved. The tall Chiss smiled at her, his blue hair flecked with grey.

"I'm sorry." Shiloh whispered.

Malavai knew she wasn't talking to him in that moment.

"Shhh Shiloh, I forgive you, I forgave you the moment it happened." Ordic soothed his troubled daughter. "Promise me you'll dance for me again, I love watching you."

"I promise."

She leaned her head on Quinns shoulder, and he enveloped her in his arms and rocked her to sleep.


	8. Chapter 8: Nar Shaddaa

She had spotted him, come and go every month, he flew into the red light district, hired one sometimes two alien girls. Then left, whatever his business was the girls were terrified of him, and were always left with welts, and bruises, he liked it rough, Rateah wondered if he might like it to be rough on him for a change, instead of the slave girls he abused. He was Sith, really sith, the full pureblooded red kind of Sith. Ava had told her to think, to back off, this was not their kind of mark, it was too dangerous, but Rateah was single minded and determined to stop him. Self righteous she thought herself a protector, a jedi without the code, she worked with what little training the Jedi had given her, and whatever tricks she had figured out on her own, she was 14 and felt invincible, so much so that she thought she could take down a Sith Lord.

Everything had gone wrong. Ava had pleaded with Teah not to leave Coruscant, but the string of deaths including the fat senator had made staying impossible, they had spent the rest of their money on tickets to the Smugglers moon, where they could remain anonymous. Ava now lay in a heap on the ground, her pistol far out of reach. He had thrown her with the flick of a wrist, his power was overwhelming, Teah felt crushed by the press of the dark force he emanated.

He laughed at her, a deep rich laugh, and she felt her entire head go red with anger and shame. She tried to fade away, she tried to increase her speed, but her minor command of the force made her clumsy. He tripped her, flicked her, never hurting her, he toyed with her, seeing through every trick. Finally her grabbed her in a force choke, enough to make her uncomfortable, enough to keep her from speaking, he allowed her to breath.

"It's like you knew I was celebrating an anniversary today, my little Manka kitten. I thought I had received all the gifts I was going to receive today, and then you came and swatted at my heels." Lord Kaervrek was amused, she was like a kitten, fierce but unfocused, her claws were sharp but mostly harmless, he sensed her potential, there was a deep well within this one, her anger, and fear and hatred were acute. He glanced over to the Miraluka who had stupidly tried to shoot him, runt. Never take the runt, they are sickly and weak, no he would take the fighter, the kitten with spirit.

"Come little kitten", he set her down, tethering her to him with the force, "Let's go find you a collar."

Rateah resisted, tried running to Ava, she could see her stirring, she tried to call out but somehow the Sith prevented her, around another corner and Ava was out of sight. Rateah started to cry, then felt a hand slap her across the face that sent her reeling.

"Do not cry for her, do not cry when the weak fail."The Sith admonished her.

"She's not weak." Reteah replied, her voice working again. "She's my sister."

"I could have killed you both easily, but you amuse me, and you're sister was a waste of my power. If she is not weak as you say, then she will survive. If not, she will die. Now put her out of your mind, you have your own survival to look to."It was Teah's first lesson in becoming Sith.

Lord Kaervrek pulled her along, to his favorite slave broker, and bought her a collar, black, with little jewels that matched the grey of her eyes. He snapped it onto her neck and tested the control, adjusting the shock to his liking. He bought her simple but luxurious clothing, Rateah was surprised at the modest cut. She didn't know that she was still too young for Lord Kaervrek's tastes, she also didn't know that she would go to him willingly in the years to come.


	9. Chapter 9: Dantooine

Aaron climbed the tall tree careful of his new uniform, he would be leaving for basic training in an hour. It was a large twisting tree it was old, there was carvings in the truck, hearts and promises engraved into its ancient bark. The tree overlooked the ruins of the ancient Jedi enclave, an old Jedi had once told him the area was strong with the force, but it warred with itself, it used to be a place of light and learning, but darkness had corrupted it. Aaron had nodded and served the Jedi his meal when he worked at the local Cantina. He supposed it made sense, Aaron didn't like it here, there were no birds or animals, it always felt like there was a cloud hanging over the area, even when the sky was blue and a chill even in the worst of heat waves. It was Mitka's refuge and hiding spot, a place she knew people wouldn't come to torment her. Her long legs were dangling, she was looking at her hands, they had a special relationship, brother and sister. Aaron somehow always knew where to find her when she ran away, she did that often, Cohen could make her laugh, but Aaron was her shoulder and her ear, they would sit for hours just talking he would listen to her hurts and frustrations and heart aches. She would surprise him with wisdom beyond her years, the intolerance of the planet had forced her to grow up, despite the family doing its best to shield her. He put his big arm around her and gave her a squeeze, her lower lip quivered.

"You were going to let me leave without saying goodbye?" His soft brown eyes searching her face.

"How can I say goodbye to you?" She answered back, he was her best friend in the world and he was leaving. "I'm being selfish, I don't want you to go, life is going to be miserable without you."

"Not miserable, you'll still have Cohen." He had a twinkle in his eye. Mitka snorted.

"Right, he's too busy juggling his three girlfriends and avoiding his own trouble to be bothered with mine. He can't be serious, he doesn't listen, he's not you." Mitka whined. She loved both of her brothers, but Cohen had a special knack of infuriating her.

"Have you read the letter yet?" Aaron changed the subject.

"No."

"Why not?" Their mother had recently given Mitka a letter, it was a letter written by her biological father when she was born.

"I don't want to know what he has to say, I don't want to read about how they didn't want me. I get enough of that on a daily basis from everyone who lives on this stupid rock. Besides mom told me everything I need to know. Evil Empire egg donor ordered me killed when she discovered I was force blind, evil empire sperm donor decided that was a bad idea, hired mom to take me away, mom being a decent human being adopted me into an awesome family." She smiled at Aaron and elbowed his ribs.

"Is sperm donor really evil? He didn't kill you, he probably saved your life, he might have even loved you." Countered Aaron.

"If he loved me, why didn't he leave with me? Why did he choose to stay with Evil Egg donor?" Mitka had that stubborn look on her face, so Aaron gave up.

"Just, read the letter will you, knowing where you came from, will help you figure out where you're going."

"I know where I'm going, as soon as I'm old enough I'm enlisting, like you, and I am going to kill as many heartless Imps as I can get my hands on. Can you just imagine the look on their face when my red ass whoops them?" Mitka had a dark grin on her face. Aaron just shook his head.

"Well then I suggest you start practicing your aim, because it's terrible." Aaron handed her the gift he had been holding onto.

"Torchy? Aaron, daddy gave Torchy to you! You can't give her to me!"

"Yes I can, and I just did. You need her more than I do, and listen to dad when he gives you shooting lessons would you? He's a smart man, not as smart of you, but not many people are. He has experience and a good eye and can teach you a few things if you would let him." He swung down from the branch. "Now would you walk me back and say a proper goodbye?"

Mitka could feel tears stinging her eyes as the Weather Light took off with her oldest brother inside. Her father, Corso, wrapped her up in a bear hug, and she leaned her head on his shoulder. His daughter was a tough nut, with a real soft center, just like her mom.

"Hey daddy?" Mitka looked up at her father, an older version of Aaron, with big old dreads.

"Yeah Princess?"

"Maybe, when you have the time, you could take me out shooting? My aim is terrible."

Her father's face broke out into a huge grin, "Absolutely sweetheart! Why don't you help me feed the rontos, then I'll go grab Sparkles and Dusty and we can head out into the bush." They walked towards the barn arm in arm, Mitka rolling her eyes at the silly names her dad gave his weapons. Corso squeezed her tight, he had been afraid as she got older that she wouldn't be interested in these kinds of things, he had found it harder and harder to relate to his young teenage daughter. Cohen caught up to them.

"Can I come?" Two of his girls had started talking, he needed to lay low for a while, and he would feel better armed.

Corso didn't answer, but looked at Mitka.

"Fine, but no making fun of me! This is serious and I need the practice!" Mitka pointed at him as she talked.

"I know you do, you couldn't hit the wide part of the barn, you are really bad!" Cohen couldn't help himself, as he danced away from her fist, she was so funny when she was mad.

"Cohen!" Her yellow eyes flared and she chased him, intent on giving him a good smack.


	10. Chapter 10: Drummond Kaas

Oriah was home between semesters, she couldn't wait to go back to school, she spent most of her time avoiding her family reading her father's journals, she had read all 20 of them, twice. This was her third read through, she had learned to read to her father's soundless voice, on his words, his ideas, musings, and tactics. She excelled at the academy, not burdened with the whims of her Sith mother and brother or her step fathers suspicions and discomfort. Her mother had married Pierce in the years following her father's exile, or death, Oriah was never told. She was told that he was never coming back, and that Pierce was to be her step father. She never liked the man, but the two had a grudging respect for one another, he never lied to her, or mocked her, though he was prone to nicknames.

Oriah flipped the page, her father had kept holorecords of his work, but her mother had destroyed them, he had also kept physical journals, written on smooth white paper his penmanship immaculate. Oriah narrowed her eyes at a passage seeing something she hadn't noticed in the past. She turned her head sideways, then turned the book on its side. The pattern was deliberate, though difficult to see, there was a code embedded in her father's journals, something he didn't dare write plainly. Oriah, checked the following page, then the next, then another journal, the code showing up time and again. It was absent in his earlier works, showing up the year he began his service to her mother, grabbing a pen Oriah started jotting down the complicated, yet oddly simple pattern, looking for the cipher. She would unlock the secrets her father left here.

Marek was 16, an acolyte at the Sith Acadamy of Korriban, he had proven as powerful and fierce as his mother, he had even heard one of the overseers comparing him to his grandfather. Marek had puffed with pride at that one, his grandfather was a force in and of himself, and the young Sith aspired to be like him. He was home, on his once a year break from the academy, afforded only to high born students. As son of Wrath and heir to Lord Kaervrek his blood line could be traced back to the original joining of Dark Jedi and the ancient Sith species, his ancestors aided in birthing the Empire itself. He was as highborn as they came. No matter how much breeding he had though, his eyes were almost always on her, a slave, his grandfathers slave, only she was free now and a Sith in her own right. Her grey eyes made him fluster, she was alien, and he normally wouldn't look twice at an alien, but Rateah had an allure. He had followed her around since boyhood, trailing after her, asking annoying questions, keeping her from her duties, and to his dismay getting her shocked in the process. His grandfather had freed her, then sent her to Korriban to be trained. She came back, into his service and as something more. Marek didn't want to wait for his inheritance, he wanted his grandfathers position now, he wanted his hand on the small of her back, and his lips to brush the top of her head. He caught his grandfathers eyes, who returned a wry grin, his desire was obvious.

Marek stalked out of the parlor where his mother, grandfather, and a good number of the Sith Council were enjoying tea and a slave auction. He paced, briefly reveling in his frustration and desire, before subduing his emotions. Rateah exited the room, closing the door behind her. He wanted to take the two steps it took to get to her, and either strangle her or kiss her. Mostly he wanted to be near her. She winked at him, he grinned, the same feral grin his grandfather had.

"You've gotten taller." Her voice lilted slightly, the past years softening her Republic accent, she almost sounded Imperial. He enjoyed the sound of her voice, even if she was still speaking to him like a boy. Her eyes were ringed with Lord Kaervreks's mark, branded onto her face. She had tried to run away shortly after he brought her to Drummund Kaas, runaways were branded, easily recognized if they tried to run again. It was a constant reminder that she was not his. He was tongue tied, and he flushed, he could speak to countless girls, other acolytes, soldiers, he liked to think he flirted pretty well. He was no boy, he had bedded girls before, but Rateah left him mute.

"Hello Teah" was all he could manage.

She strolled to him calmly, she was a wisp of a woman, Marek was already a full head taller than her, and still growing, but she tilted her head, lifted her feet onto her toes and kissed his cheek, leaning into his body as she did so by placing both of her hands on his chest, "You've grown more handsome as well." She walked away with a laugh in her throat, intent on the task her master had sent her on. Her scent lingered in his nose, spices and heat, a contrast to her cold white skin and black tattoos. Mareks heart was beating out of his chest, he wanted her, he vowed one day she would be his prize.


	11. Chapter 11: Nar shaddaa

Avacynne stood outside the rehab center clenching and unclenching her fists, she had been standing outside the doors for an hour, an internal struggle raging inside her. She had been doing spice since she was 14, since Teah had been taken from her. She looked at her hands, spotted all the familiar injection sites, she was 24 now, she had numbed ten years of her life.

As a Miraluka the force was inherent in her, but she preferred to use her own wits and strength to get by, she was never good at manipulating the flow, or controlling it the way Teah could. After Teah left, taken by the Sith, she resorted to pick pocketing, she tried her hand at the brothels, but she never got many clients, the empty eye sockets a turn off. Eventually the Madame kept her on as security, Ava was a great shot, and took care of anyone who would hurt her girls, or try to swindle her. The whores preferred her to the big brutes who would leer at them, and only keep them safe in return for favors. As thanks they would share their spice with her, and once Ava discovered she could block out the force altogether she was hooked. She would take enough spice to render her blind, and vulnerable, but she didn't care . She managed through her shifts, with the promise of blindly floating out of her skin once she was done. Occasionally some of the whores would join her, she never knew who, sometimes girls, sometimes some of the boys, she would wake in various states of undress, but they kept her safe, her blasters always ready, her small metal visor close at hand. It was a constant cycle, almost all of her money went to spice, when she found herself with enough spice but with extra credits, she bought cheap ill fitting armor. She was small, any armor that would have been truly useful would have needed to be custom made, but Ava didn't care, she learned to get around and be effective in her oversized armor, she always managed to shoot first anyways, and her targets always fell.

She found herself in front of a minor Hutt, one of his enforcers had tried to hurt one of Ava's girls, and he had died for it. He hired her on the spot, doubled her salary, and much to Avacynne's joy he was in the spice business. She left the brothel without a second thought, although she still spent her nights there, this time paying her friends for their time and security.

She started taking odd jobs, hunting down quick bounties to supplement her pay, she needed more and more spice to numb herself, eventually she made more money off of bounties then from the spice lord that she left his service and went into business for herself. It was the best scenario, she would do enough jobs to buy a large amount of spice and go on week long benders where she felt nothing, where she didn't see. She didn't see Teah carried off, she didn't see Master Elliah's face full of pity and sadness, she didn't see the swirling light and dark that was always around, she didn't see herself, the angry and weak failure. She drowned the terrified girl that she was and didn't let her resurface.

A new bounty hit the board, the reward one of the biggest she'd seen. The client was a man named Braden, he hired multiple hunters, a competition of sorts. After taking down the mark, he had paid her and offered her something more.

"You're a good hunter, you could be a great hunter. I think you could even win the great hunt." He had told her over drinks. Ava knew about the Mandalorian tradition, every hunter did.

"Do I look like a Mandalorian to you" She snorted, itching to get out and find her dealer.

"You look like a spice head" Ava pulled a pistol on him, it was true, but she didn't like hearing truths. She liked it better when he called her a good hunter.

"I want to work with you, I haven't seen this much raw talent in ages, but I won't work with you like this." He stood up to leave ignoring the pistol, her arm was shaking terribly, she needed a fix.

"If ever you decide you want to be more than this, realize your greatness, this is my holo frequency, I'll set you up with rehab, help get you clean. I'll invest in you, because I think you could be a great investment. Then come find me, and we'll get to work and win you the Great Hunt." He left a card on the counter, and walked away from her.

That was a week ago, and his words, and Teahs old encouragements, that she was a survivor, that she was strong had bounced around in her head with the spice haze until she called him. He was the first person to truly put his faith in her, believe in her, believe she could stand on her own two feet and be something.

"I want to win the great hunt." Was all she said, Braden had not expected to hear from her again but smiled when he did.

She took the handful of steps it took to walk into the rehab center and checked herself in. She wouldn't disappoint him.


	12. Chapter 12: Carrick Station

How did she go from a Sergeant to a Lieutenant in the blink of an eye? Mitka was still in shock after the entirety of her squad defected and then tried to have her killed. She had been so proud to have been assigned to Havoc squad, as far as she knew they had never recruited any members straight from the academy, and now she was the CO, her only squad mate a very angry recently demoted Cathar. It was overwhelming, she had no practical experience, well except for storming a rebel volcano base. Still she felt like she was in over her head, and she was pretty sure Jorgan agreed. She had tried talking to him about his demotion, tried to offer support, isn't that what a good CO does? All he had replied with were bitter words and angry sentiment.

They sat in an overcrowded hangar, waiting to board the passenger ship that would take them to Coruscant. She was writing a note to Aaron to let him know about her promotion, balancing her datapad on her helmet that rested on her lap. She wanted to melt into her chair, everytime she glanced up, she was met with angry emerald eyes, and whenever she looked around, she was met with even more disapproving glares from the rest of the passengers, as if her very presence was an affront. She wished they could have taken a troop transport, they were uncomfortable and cramped, but at least she wouldn't have had to deal with ignorant civilians, just ignorant soldiers she could pull rank on.

Her data pad was yanked from her hands and two large men stood in front of her, they smelt of strong liquor.

"I hope you're not thinking of boarding that ship, Sith." One slurred.

"I have every intention of boarding that ship sir, could you kindly return me my datapad." She answered politly.

The drunk replied to her by snapping her pad in two and throwing it to the ground.

"Oops!"

Mitka clenched her fists, she was back on Dantooine, dealing with school yard bullies, she was back at the Acadamy dealing with other cadets who simply couldn't see past her skin. Only she couldn't punch these ones, she could get seriously reprimanded for physically assaulting a civilian. She also didn't want to live up to everyone's expectations of her, that all Sith were evil and violent. Even though she was feeling very evil and violent in that moment.

"Sir I suggest you and your friend move along, you've clearly had too much to drink, and I would hate for you to do something you regret." She kept her voice polite, calm, don't give them a reason.

"I won't regret wiping the hangar with your ugly face, your kind killed my family, so either go back to where you came from or I am going to kill you, you damn dirty Sith bitch!" He grabbed her by the collar, shaking her as he spoke, spittle spraying her face, his breath was intolerable.

"Take your hands off of me." All pretense of politeness were gone, her bright yellow eyes narrowed. She heard knuckles popping behind him. Then a hand tapped him on the shoulder, he let go of her and started to turn his body when his face was met with a fast moving, solid Cathar fist. Mitka side stepped and let the drunk fall senseless beside her. She and Jorgan both looked at the second drunk, who decided it was better not to mess with Republic troopers. Smart man.

Jorgan grabbed both their bags and hefted them over his shoulder, weapons having already been checked at security, and bent down to gather Mitka's broken datapad.

"I could have handled him." Mitka said taking her bag and tossing the broken pad into the trash.

"I have no doubt sir, but I've been wanting to punch someone since we left Ord Mantell. Couldn't let the opportunity go to waste." And for the first time since meeting him Jorgan favored her with a sly grin and a wink.

Mitka started thinking maybe the two of them could get along after all. Once boarded and settled into their cabin they made their way to the mess hall.

"Listen Jorgan, I know I'm green, I know you don't think I should have this command, and frankly I'm not sure I should either, but here we are." He glanced sidelong at her, but kept his peace. "You have held command posts before, been a leader in the field, and I'd appreciate any wisdom or advice you can send my way. We're a team, as far as I'm concerned you're a highly valuable asset, and I don't intend to waste it on some misguided attempt to prove something."

Jorgan was surprised at her maturity, at her respect. He had been angry at the demotion, at serving under a pup 10 years his junior, but this pup didn't have any of the bravado or ego that fresh soldiers usually have. He was impressed with the control she kept, and he was happy to offer any knowledge he had.

"You play sabacc?" he asked

"Not well." She replied with a sheepish grin. Jorgan also noted that she was very easy on the eyes, especially when she was relaxed and open.

"Let's grab a bite, I'll take your money and we can talk tactics."

That night, while Jorgan snored softly in his bunk, Mitka grabbed the still unopened letter from her bag. The letter from her biological father. She turned it over in her hands, tracing her name on the envelope written with a flourish from a hand she knew nothing about. She put it back, deep in her bag, hidden, and secret, for some reason it was a comfort to have it near. Not tonight she thought to herself as she turned over in bed and fell asleep.


	13. Chapter 13: The Emporor's Fortress

She was staring at her hands again, quiet, with a troubled look on her face, her black hair hug in front of her eyes. Scourge watched her a moment longer, willing her to break free, perhaps this time. Kianna had been in the Emperor's thrall for nearly a year now after the failed attempt at his Lords life, no, redemption, absurdity. He challenged her to think for herself, subtly he would present her with scenarios or items that would stir up memories that directly challenged the planted memories and control the Emperor had placed in her mind. He asked her about her past, her dreams, especially her dreams for there was her subconscious warring with the Emperor's will. When she would grow quiet, thoughtful, troubled, he knew she had discovered inconsistencies, her mind trying to make sense of the contradictory information, she blinked, she was like a malfunctioning droid, if permitted she could stay in this state for hours. Part of his duty, and the duty of the overseers training her was not to allow such moments, she was especially strong with the force, her will had been difficult to bend, taking the Emperor more than mere minutes to bring her to heel. Scourge let out a breath, not today, he strode up to her and placed a large red hand on her slender shoulder, breaking her out of the loop that played in her mind, trying to make sense of her surroundings, of her being.

"Come Acolyte" he commanded.

"Yes my Lord Scourge." She followed like the obedient dog they had made her.

It was a farce, making her Sith, she would never truly be Sith, she would be corrupt, a dark side adept at most. Her passion had been unleashed, and it was magnificent to behold, she had bested him using the light, she had been fierce as a Jedi, using the dark side made her unstoppable. The idea, of course was to never allow her strength to culminate into any kind of power, she would never be free. She would never live the sith code, they had made it a point not to teach it to her, she was not free, and was not to be given any ideas that might set her free. Scourge mused that so long as the Emperor lived, no Sith anywhere would ever be free. This broken jedi, could kill him, Scourge had seen it, hundreds of years ago while aiding people he had considered friends, he had done the same for Revan and the exile, helped them break their bonds, plotted to stop the emperor only to turn and betray them. The vision of the Jedi with red eyes and skin as blue as a clear Drummond Kaas day had haunted him. Scourge remembered when the Chiss allied themselves with the Empire. They were adamant that the race could not be force sensitive, a treaty was signed banning all but Chiss from stepping foot on Csilla and in turn they served the Empire well. Perhaps they hid their force users, Scourge did not know but he had begun to doubt, perhaps he had betrayed his only chance at killing the Emperor, and they were doomed, his Lord would fufill his plan, and the Galaxy would cease to be. At least Scourge would die, a release he often craved. His heart told him to keep faith, it was a true vision, even as his mind told him it had only been a pleasant and vivid dream.

Kianna choked the man before her, he seemed familiar, she dropped him peered at him.

"Kiki, Kianna, c'mon girl, don't you remember old Doc?" He spoke to her his voice hoarse his eyes hopeful when she took a closer look. She wrinkled her nose when he called her Kiki and batted him away sending him flying into a metal wall rendering him senseless.

"Don't call me Kiki."

"Why not it's cute?" He grinned at her, that maddening grin, Kianna prided herself on being able to keep calm, but ever since Doc had come aboard her ship, he had managed to shake her calm. She wanted to slap or kiss the grin off of his face, both reactions out of line with the jedi code.

"Jedi aren't supposed to be cute." She countered soberly, biting her lip to keep from smiling.

"Says the girl with the sweetest little freckles on her nose." He tucked her loose hair behind her ears, "and that thing you're doing right there, the lip biting thing, also cute. I can't help it if you have a cute nick name too."

Kianna blushed, "Well I don't like that nick name." He was standing very close now, when did he get so close? She could feel his body heat, smell his cologn, and it actually smelled really good. She felt desire flare and broke his gaze, intent on walking away, like she always did only his arm was around her waist and she wound up closer to him instead.

"It's a good thing you don't get to choose your nickname then." He mumbled into her hair, breathing her in. She felt his heart beating through her chest, it beat as quickly as her own. All she needed to do was look up into those brown eyes and her resolve would be broken. She had always been a good Jedi, she even turned two young padawans who had been in love, she was by the book, one kiss wouldn't change that,what was one kiss? Kianna lied to herself, she knew the second she kissed Doc, that's all she would want to do, she would want it to lead to more, she wanted him like nothing else. He didn't wait for her to decide, one of his hands moved to her face and tilted her head up, her lips met his. Her arms went around his neck, she went up onto her toes she pulled him closer. She heard a moan escape his lips as he deepened the kiss and one of her hands raked his hair. Her back was against a wall, she didn't remember moving, his lips were on her neck when the holo rang, breaking the moment, causing her to remember herself.

"Doc?" Only it wasn't dark chocolate eyes staring back at her, full of lust and desire, no the eyes were red, and intense, there was a question there, something he never asked. "I think I know that man." Pain lanced through her head the second she said it.

"How do you know him?" Scourge had dismissed the overseers, her companion brought to a kolto tank, a large part of her training was torturing her friends, she was so close to breaking free.

"I…" the headache intensified, she squeezed her eyes shut against the pain.

"Look at me, who was that man?" His voice was barely above a whisper, his hands squeezed her arms, leaving bruises.

Her eyes opened, bright with unshed tears, "Doc, I loved him. Or…was falling in love with him. He kissed me…and it was wrong…" A tear fell. "Did I kill him?"

"No, you did not kill him." Scourge relaxed his grip on her, stopped himself from wiping away the tear. They had made her like a child, in suppressing her mind they had suppressed her intellect. All she was, all she was allowed to be was raw emotion, she had no filter, she simply felt every emotion that came to her to its fullest.

"Come Acolyte, your training is done for today."Scourge led her back to her chambers, he smiled while his back was to her, a quick feral grin, she was close.


	14. Chapter 14: Tatooine

Mitka stood on the balcony of the small house the mayor had offered Havoc to use as their base of operations. Armor long forgotten she stood there in a black tank top and light weight cargo pants, she was enjoying her first Tatooine sunset. Elara was nose deep in a book outlining common desert planet ailments and treatments, 4X was in sleep mode, avoiding unnecessary motor and circuit overheating. She had sent Jorgan out to secure speeders for the following day, she wasn't ready to deal with him yet. The dossier on Fuse was on the table inside of the house, she had read it, and re-read it, she knew she shouldn't trust him, but something about him, she wanted to.

The first sun dipped under the horizon, the sky was on fire with reds, and pinks, and oranges, against an impossible blue sky. She heard him come in the front door, his armor hit the floor with a thud, it was hot out easily 45 degrees Celsius, and she imagined the Cathar was sweltering in his fine layer of fur. He emerged from the house in a t-shirt and the same regulation pants she had on. She followed him with her bright yellow eyes, a slight frown on her burgundy lips.

"I brought a peace offering" He held up a bottle of beer, dripping with condensation, she grabbed it, thankful. A beer was exactly what she needed. He let out a low whistle when he looked out at the view, "wow!"

They both took long deep swings from their beers, the cool smooth drink, cooling them from the inside.

"Did you know beer is cheaper then water here?" He asked, he was avoiding, looking past her, he was feeling guilty. Finally he sighed, and his emerald green eyes met hers.

"Look, I'm sorry for what I did on Nar Shaddaa" he took another swig, "I was out of line, I just…I know guys like Balkar, all looks, and charm and only ever after one thing. I was trying to…"

"Protect me?" Mitka finished his sentence for him, he nodded sheepishly. She wasn't angry, his heart was in the right place, but she was sad, it was a sadness that had persisted throughout most of her life.

"Aric, I have a ridiculously over protective father, and two older brothers, my honor has all the protection it'll ever need." She ran a hand through her dark hair.

"I don't need another brother, or a second father, I need…."

"A friend." It was Aric's turn to finish her sentence.

"Growing up, guys like Jonas Balkar, never gave me a second look, if they ever looked at all. I never went to prom, or had a boyfriend, Aric, I've never been kissed, I've never….been with…a man. Boys would look at me….and see my red skin, and my impeccable Sith bone structure, they would see the enemy" She took a long drink from her beer, thankful for her red skin hiding her blush. "Want to know why I was top of my class at the academy? I had to prove myself every day, to the other cadets, my instructors, prove that I belonged there, because I sure as hell didn't look like I belonged there."

"So when a handsome SIS agent flirted with me, told me I was pretty….Asked me out. I said yes, I didn't care if it would have never turned into anything serious. I was happy for the attention. He's the first man to have ever called me pretty outside of my father." She turned away from him then. "And you go and call him, and chase him off." She heard Aric take another drink and put his bottle down.

"Jonas was wrong" Aric spoke to the back of her head, she reminded him of the sunset, breath taking, the same colours, a cool wind picked up and tussled her short bob, revealing ridges on the back of her neck. "You're not pretty" He reached out and took her arm, turned her to face him, saw the hurt in her eyes at what she thought he was saying, "You're beautiful, stunning. And all those boys from your past are idiots, if all Jonas saw was pretty he's an idiot too, because you are so much more than that."

Mitka looked at Aric Jorgan, his hand was still on her arm, soft, almost like velvet, not at all what she thought his touch would feel like. She had never thought of Aric like this, but the electricity was undeniable. Her heart beat fast, he leaned down and his hand rode up her arm to cup her face, his thumb caressed the ridge on her cheek, and then he kissed her. His lips were soft, but insistent, there was passion there, but he held back, wrapped his other arm around her waist, held her lips captive for a moment longer. Mitka was dazed, he knees weak, her eyes closed, she bit her lower lip, still tasting him there. He waited until she opend her eyes again, and was steady on her feet.

"You are the kind of women who should be kissed, often, by a man who knows how." His voice was low, husky.

He left her on the balcony, her fingers came up and touched her lips again, she looked back up at the sky, getting darker, the second sun dipped below the horizon. It was Mitka's 23rd birthday.


	15. Chapter 15: Shadowtown

"Mal, stop twitching, you can think and calculate later." Shiloh held his chin between thumb and finger, his skin was slick and greasy, mainly because she had rubbed butter into his face. She brought the razor back down onto his cheeks, careful of his tiny moles and continued to shave his face with their stolen razor. She cut his facial hair as closely as she could always careful, always tender. So much had changed over the 17 years they had been imprisoned, not only in themselves but in the nature of their imprisonment. Shiloh was still tortured on a monthly basis, her body ravaged with scars, her hands were almost always wrapped in bandages. The pain was nothing to her, and Lord Kaervrek was getting older, she wondered if he really was after the black codex or if this was now simply a hobby of his. All of her secrets, her personal demons, all her sins had been laid bare in an attempt to break her, yet she kept the information he wanted close to her heart. Quinn had asked her once, what it was he was after, knowing better, knowing they were watched she never told him, in part to protect him, and in part, because despite their deep affection for one another, she did not fully trust him.

Quinn tilted his head up so that Shiloh could better access the hair on his jaw and neck, the smooth metal gliding across his skin expertly. His blue eyes flicked open and he observed her, she was intent and focused. Malavai realized that he had now been with Shiloh longer than he had ever been with Ardyth. He never thought of his wife anymore except with contempt and hate. After seven years he had been given a holonet link to search for his eldest daughter. He searched, though not very hard. He didn't have to, years ago he had set up a private account for his daughter as a safe guard, as a way to provide for her even though he couldn't be there for her in person. There was an alert that would have automatically been sent to him if she ever opened the safety deposit box, at the time it was so he could reconnect with his child, now it would become a death sentence, he cursed his sentimentality. In the 23 years since her birth the alert had remained silent. By his calculations the credits he had left her, having accrued interest, now sat somewhere near three million.

"Done, go wash the butter off your face." Shiloh ordered him. She stared after him, he was thin, but remained fit, his dark hair still thick and full on his head though it was peppered with grey, he was still a very handsome man.

They discovered years ago that 3 hours a day, at unspecified times, their cell was opened allowing them to stretch their legs. They could not leave their wing, which were all sensitive Imperial prisoners, many ex-intelligence, a former Moff, some officers, some politicians. All of them still had their uses but to the greater galaxy they were all on record as deceased. Every couple of weeks, a new prisoner would invariably give in to despair and commit suicide. Shiloh and Malavai were sometimes lucky enough to reach the cell and pilfer luxuries, such as razors, butter, pudding, bread, tea bags, they even stole a mattress and extra blankets. Shadowtown was kept uncomfortably cold, though not cold enough to cause hypothermia. They discovered they were by far the worst kept prisoners in their wing. The guards didn't care, and let them keep their stolen comforts, though after so many years their biggest comfort was each other. Malavai emerged from the refresher, patting his face with a towel and Shiloh smiled at him.

"Dapper as ever." He favored her with a crooked grin; he was even more handsome when he smiled. Her ghosts would sometimes appear, but they no longer spoke to her, Vector, her sweet Vector, had encouraged her to find solace and comfort in Quinn. She found herself falling in love with him, she felt guilty that she didn't know when Vector stopped appearing to her. She felt worse that she could barely remember his face, but he was dead, and Quinn was alive, warm and present. He returned her affections, at first because of the primal need for contact and touch, later because he genuinely loved her as well.

He bent his head and kissed her lightly on the lips, "Thank you." He held up her hands, and kissed her icy fingers, the dressing still smelled clean, the burn marks might actually be healing this time. He rubbed her hands with his own. She looked tired; the habitual torture took a toll on her, mainly her stamina, she was younger than him, but fragile, though she had an iron will. "Go rest under the covers, I'll be along shortly."

"I'm afraid she won't have time for a rest." A young Sith Pureblood strode up, "Hello father!" Two guards entered the cell and grabbed Shiloh, dragging her out. His stomach was in knots, he hated seeing her treated roughly, but he stood still, knowing if he tried to intervene, it would go worse for her, instead Quinn stared at the young Sith, arrogant, self assured, a shock of black hair, bright yellow eyes, his son.

"Marek."

Marek's lips curled and eyes narrowed, it was a face Quinn knew well, he had made it countless times when he was considered a loyal servant of the empire.

"Mother sends her hate, and asks that you kindly die already." He turned on his heel and strode away with all the confidence of youth and power. Quinn didn't know whether to be sick or proud.

Shiloh was brought to a different cell, instead of being strapped into a torture device, her hands were shackled behind her, and she was forced to sit on a hard metal chair, her slippers were removed and her feet placed in a deep bucket of ice cold water. She felt dread and fear, up until now the torture had been predictable, she knew what to expect, but Kaervrek wasn't here today, his usual methods abandoned. From behind her a needle was plunged into her neck, her vision blurred immediately. Her thoughts became sluggish, after a time two figures came forward, one red, he reminded her of someone. The other was pale white, bald, with black tattoo's adorning her face, her eyes were white grey.

"Lord Kaervrek is not here, he no longer has the luxury of time and requires the location of the black codex now, we will not be as kind, we will not draw this out, we will remain in this room until you deliver the information, or until you pass out. I have injected you with a truth serum, the effects will be fully present in a matter of minutes." Her voice was melodic and soft, her face changed and shifted, it became Hunters face. The other, the red one, his eyes became black, pupiless, his skin lightened, until she was looking into the face of her love, his hands lifted and lightning flew from his fingers, Vector's serene face twisted in a cruel grin as the electrical currents ravaged her body, split skin. Shiloh could only stare in horror as her body constricted and jerked, the world went black.

Cold water splashed her face and Shiloh sputtered. The red and white ones stared back at her, the Sith looking self satisfied, the Ratattaki intent.

"Shiloh, where is the Black Codex of the Star Cabal?" Lord Rateah asked her. She had needed to intervene when Marek electrocuted the subject, she had chastised him, they received no information is she died. She told him to pace himself, he had growled but obeyed.

"I broke it…into pieces. I sent the pieces away." Shiloh's lips moved, she spoke involuntarily, by sheer will she did not reveal everything; she didn't know how long she could resist.

"How many pieces?" Teah placed a hand on the subjects shoulder, the force, the electricity coursed between them, Shiloh jerked and grunted.

"Four. Four pieces."

"To whom did you give them?"

Shiloh saw Watcher X behind them, he shook his head, "Tell them something vague reveal no names, fight Agent, this serum will not affect you for much longer, you can resist."

"I sent two pieces to the families of former Star Cabal members. One piece I sent to Tython, and one I hid with the protector." Shiloh spoke, still against her will, she did not lie. Watcher X smiled at her, "Well done."

"Riddles, she speaks in riddles." Marek growled, he hated puzzles, he noticed that Teah was smiling, with a look of admiration on her face. She turned her grey eyes to him, and nodded.

"Now you can hurt her. A little, do not kill her, and do not let her lose consciousness." Rateah dictated to the impatient younger Sith.

Marek unleashed on Shiloh, she screamed, and his heart sang in the music she made, all too soon, Rateah ordered him to stop.

"Names, Shiloh, give me names."

"Not a chance." Shiloh smiled at the Ratattaki, she thought of Kaliyo, wondered if she had got herself killed yet. The serum no longer held her mind captive, the Sith's pretty lips curled, Shiloh would kiss her if she could. She thought of her and her old friends early years working together, just the two of them alone on the ship with too much to drink. Kaliyo's lips had been surprisingly soft, perhaps all Ratattaki women had such full soft kissable lips. She chuckled at the memory from another lifetime.

"Bring her back to your father."

"Does she have to be conscious?" Marek asked maliciously.

Teah looked from the Chiss to Kaervreks grandson. He lacked patience and focus, his emotions were still scattered and wild with the first tastes of power, he smiled at her a feral roguish grin. She winked at him and nodded, choosing to indulge him.

"Don't kill her." She warned and left the room. Shiloh's screams quickly filled the air.


	16. Chapter 16: Tatooine

The grenade blew before she had a chance to react, Mitka was launched into the air and landed ten meters from her original location.

"Cover fire! Dorne, get her out of there!" Jorgan shouted, strong arms holding his assault cannon, he pressed the trigger, sand people dropped in his wake.

Elara Dorne reached her commanding officer, she found her chest armor bent inwards, and a piece of shrapnel had managed to find its way between hip and leg armor. Mitka's eyes were opened but dazed, not focusing. With quick hands, Elara checked for spinal injuries, satisfied there were none, she wrapped the shrapnel wound and dragged her to the nearest cover she could find, a small alcove in the cliffs.

"Clear sergeant!" M1-4X declared to Aric Jorgan.

Jorgan jogged towards Dorne and Mitka, hefting the cannon onto his back. When he reached the two women, he saw the disgarded and mangled piece of armor. It had saved her life, Mitka would be in a lot of pain, and had earned herself a massive bruise, but her vitals would have been protected. He saw the blood soaked gauze at her hip. His jaw clenched. Mitka herself was writhing in pain, trying her very best not to cry out in pain. He caught Elara's eye, who nodded towards Mitka.

"Hold her."

He bent down, put both arms on her shoulders and held her still. "Look at me Lieutenant." Her hands were at her hip, wanting to pull out the reason behind the pain. Aric grabbed them. "Lieutenant, look at me." His voice louder, more forceful, her yellow eyes snapped open, wild, and feral. He had seen that look on more than one wounded soldier before.

"Breath" He told her, and she took a deep shuddering breath. Elara took that moment and administered the kolto, a large dose.

When Mitka woke up, it wasn't in the desert, it was in Havoc squads ship's med bay. There was no Kolto tank aboard the ship and Anchorhead's medical facilities had not met with Sergant Dorne's standards. They were flying to a nearby cruiser with a well stocked Republic regulation medbay, with Kolto Tanks.

Mitka's head was fuzzy, she moved her hands, they made a strange, wavy trail, she giggled.

"Ah Lieutenant, welcome back. You thrown and injured by a grenade, we are en route to a suitable medical facility to have your shrapnel wound properly cared for, and for you to spend the necessary time in a Kolto tank. In addition I've already requisitioned a Kolto tank for the ship. Considering our operations, I'm surprised we didn't already have one."

Mitka considered what Elara had said, nodded sagely "You have pretty hair."

"How's your patient Dorne?" Aric ventured into the med bay.

"Conscious, and rather euphoric from the pain killers." She replied with the hint of a grin on her normally serious face.

"Aric!" Mitka greeted him with a large grin, her yellow eyes, blinking lazily. She held out her hand for him to take.

"Hey Lt, how are you feeling?" He gave her his hand, she laced her finger through his, brought it up to her face, and rubbed it to her cheek.

"Oh my stars, you are so soft! Elara touch him! He is so soft! Like velvet, I could snuggle him all day!"

Jorgan's eye widened, not quite sure what to make of his very high, and rather adorable commanding officer. Elara opened her mouth to speak, then shut it again.

"He kissed me you know!" She told Elara in a rather conspiratorial tone, looked back at Aric, "You kissed me!" She informed him. Aric felt his ears burning.

"His hands are soft, but you should feel his lips, amazing." Jorgan cleared his throat, intending to interrupt her train of thought.

Elara's cheeks had gone red, "I should give you some privacy Lieutenant." She glanced at Jorgan, and furrowed her brow, indicating her disapproval of their fraternization. Jorgan shrugged his shoulders, not sure what to say to the severe by the book medic.

He gently took her hand with his other, sandwiching her small red hand in his, he brushed her fingers with his lips.

"Really? In front of Elara?" he asked her.

"Girl talk" Mitka replied squeezing his hand.

"Excuse me?

"Mom said I need more girlfriends, she said, you talk about stuff with girlfriends, like hair and boys."

"Probably not when the boy is in the room"

"I don't know, I'm new at this stuff…You should kiss me again."

Aric couldn't help but smile.

"Should I now? Why is that?"

"Cause I want you to." Her yellow eyes blinked, she tried to lean forward, and winced in pain.

Jorgan gently leaned her back against the cot.

"Tell you what, when you're not high or wounded, I'll kiss you again."

"Promise?"

He kissed her hand.

"Promise."

Mitka closed her eyes, tired suddenly, she smiled, that went well.


	17. Chapter 17:Defender Class Starship

Meditation was a fruitless exercise, Kianna could not settle her heart, the dark side whispered in her ear. She could not find that anchor that the light side had provided for so many years. She put her head in her hands, she needed time to heal, she had been away under the Emperors thrall for a full year, his influence and darkness permeating every aspect of her being. The council did not allow her a respite, because of what she had said, because she had vouched for a Sith, a Sith that now made his home on her ship, he was there because she had invited him, and because she needed him. He reminded her daily that she was not Jedi, she was not whole, she struggled, with herself, with her emotions, flashes of memory would haunt her as she caught glimpses of the deeds she did. The anger coiled and festered and it was only with great difficulty she found a measure of control. Master Elliah had fought on her behalf, to allow Kianna time to heal and to find the light, to cleanse the effects of the Emperor. The council insisted there was no time for these measures, trust in the force. Now she was in hyperspace alone on a ship with a crew who did not trust her and a Sith who was not to be trusted. She didn't blame her crew, friends, although she wasn't sure that was a title they would use for her anymore, for not trusting her, they had suffered repetitive and systematic torture by her hands for a full year. Kira said she understood, having been a child of the emperor, having been forced to act against her will, but Kianna's former padawan kept conversations civil and short. Doc and Rusk did not speak to her at all. Rusk, the ever vigilant soldier, would watch her with a steel gaze, like a guard, and Doc, he simply would not look. Kianna didn't understand why he stayed. T7 would blip and whirr and assure her they were still great friends, but asked her daily not to put on another restraining bolt.

The question of why Doc remained gnawed at her; perhaps he stayed because he still cared? She allowed herself to hope, that maybe he just didn't know how to broach the subject. Perhaps she was simply being too distant; she remembered their budding romance with fondness. She hoped that they might rekindle it, work past the hurt. Kianna would apologize, hope he would understand she had not hurt him on purpose, any of them, but she was still sorry for the pain they had suffered, that she had caused. Kianna wanted him to look at her with mischief and desire again, she wanted him to tease her, she even wanted him to call her Kiki. She was so lonely and an ally and a friend would be a soothing balm. Kianna made her way down the stairs of the ship, but stopped short at the med bay door when she heard Kira's familiar giggle, followed by Doc's easy chuckle, then breathing, gasps. Kianna looked, already knowing what she would see. Doc and Kira were locked in an embrace, they held each other tightly, Docs hands were in Kiras red hair, Kira's arms wrapped tightly around his neck pulling him closer.

"That's why you stayed." Kianna whispered, barely audible.

"Kianna!" Kira pulled away suddenly, embarrassed. "Ki, Let me explain!"

"No Kira, it's ok, I understand." Kianna smiled a melancholy smile, what a fool she was.

"We only had each other, it's not something we planned, and you were gone a long time." This time it was Doc who spoke, who finally looked her in the eyes. "When she assigned to you, I couldn't leave her alone, not with an unstable soldier and two Si-" Kira elbowed him hard in the ribs.

"She's not, not anymore." She looked back at her former master, "right?"

It took Kianna a time to form words, she had felt the blow of what Doc said like a slap in the face. "I am a Jedi." Though the anger and sadness of the moment was difficult to deny, Kira watched her, also sensing the dark side that clung to her, like a stain on her soul.

"Are you sure? You're still very…twisty…" Kira tried to find a tactful word to say unstable, twisty was the best she could do.

"It's a work in progress, I wanted to stay on Tython to really heal, I'm not as strong as you Kira, I can't just shrug off the will of the Emperor like a cold and move on with a quip and a smile." Kianna regretted saying it the second it came out, jealousy and bitterness were ugly bedfellows. Kira just looked at her with pity. Frustration and anger flared again and she struggled to control it, she wanted to slap the serenity and happiness from her pretty face, just as she had wanted to rip the Jedi Council apart when they questioned her loyalty and resolve. No she wasn't alright, she needed time, she needed help, but they would not give it to her, they set her loose on the Galaxy drifting with an impossible task, with people ill equipped to stop her if she succumbed to the siren call of the dark.

"I'm sorry, I'm glad you found each other, I'm happy for you both, really. I'm fine, I'll be fine, and you, none of you have anything to fear from me." Kianna forced out with a strained smile and fled back up the stairs, humiliated, her face burned red, she closed the door to her room behind her and the tears fell.

"You discovered them, the Doctor and the other Jedi? Their romance?" Lord Scourge stood in the middle of her room, his voice calm and deep like a well, but his words cut. Kianna frantically wiped the tears from her eyes, she would not show weakness to this Sith.

"What are you doing in my chamber?"Kianna demanded.

"I'm simply returning some of your personal effects that I saved from the Emperor." He held up a locket and a small music disk and placed them on her bedside table. "You told me you loved him, when you were in the Emperors thrall, the doctor. Perhaps I've been cut off from my emotions for too long, but I don't understand the appeal."

"I'm not having this discussion with you." Kianna said flatly as she opened the door and indicated he should leave.

"As you wish." He nodded his head to her and exited her room.

Kianna breathed heavily, she picked up the locket and opened it, the holo image of her sister Shiloh and brother in law, Vector, flanking a young and innocent Kianna smiled back. The tears came until they blinded her, Kianna threw the locket across the room and it shattered against the wall. The image blinked then went out.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Kianna ran to the broken locket, apologizing to it, to her friends, to everything and everyone she had hurt and disappointed, to a Galaxy she truly didn't believe she could save. She gathered all the pieces, a hinge and compartment swung open, and a small data chip fell out. Kianna had never seen this compartment on her locket before. She held up the tiny chip to the light. Her brow creased, what was this?


	18. Chapter 18: Port Nowhere

Risha swore under breath for what felt like the millionth time. She finally punched in her old friends holo frequency and waited, no good will come of this.

"Hey Risha! What's going on up there, Cohen is two days late checking in, he ok?" Ainsley's voice was artificially cheery, she was worried.

"Listen, Ainsley, about Cohen ew, ewww, you are gross, and I'm not talking to you right now, I need to find my thieving, no good Skavak of a son." Before hanging up Ainsley looked Risha in the eye pointing an accusing finger, "Bad Queen!" and cut the call off.

Cohen leaned back in the captains chair, he thought again of letting his mother know she would get her ship back, he just wasn't sure when. He thought of his "aunt" Risha and smiled a wry grin, still incredible sexy for an older woman, he could now add royalty to his list of conquests. Ratattaki and Royalty, he hadn't trusted old baldy for a second when she offered to go into business with him. She implied that Nok Drayen had been more than the Lord of the underworld, but that he had helped run the galaxy behind the scenes as a member of a secret society. He had revealed just enough information, that he was close and personal with what remained of the Drayen family, she told him what to look for, told him to bring the cube back and she would decrypt the information, she flashed a data stick with the decryption code. Cohen bought her another round, and then another, the woman could drink.

After the drunken angry Ratattaki sex, he pinched the code and left her sleeping on the floor of her ship. Cohen still had bruises. He placed the cube in the data console and slipped the code in, the computer indicated it would take four hours to fully decrypt. Cohen wished his siblings were here, he wished they could be doing this together, but they had chosen the military, the idea of following someone elses orders literally tuned his stomach. Aaron he understood, but Mitka he didn't, she had a brilliant mind, with ideas all her own, she would love this scheme, full of puzzles and mystery. The ship holo beeped. Cohen had to fight from laughing as he answered the call.

"Hey Kaliyo, finally shook off that hangover?" He stood comfortable, arms crossed, crooked grin surrounded by light stubble, his blue eyes sparkled with mockery.

"You double crossing rat, I'm going to kill you." The older woman spat at him.

"Doubtful, and don't get all bent out of shape babe, you think I didn't know your reputation, I only double crossed you before you could double cross me." He shot her a wink, she growled at him. "At least we had a good time, sweetest bruises I ever got." Her rage calmed somewhat and she favored him with a Cheshire smile.

"We can still work together you know, I know where to find at least two more of the missing pieces, I'm betting once they've been assembled we'll be able to figure out where the last one is. What do ya say blondy?"

"I say you got yourself a partner baldy. What's our next move?" Cohen knew better then to trust her, but he would use her so long as she was useful, and there was no way he would be letting her on his ship. Another shot of guilt to the heart, he should really call his mom.


	19. Chapter 19: Weather Light XS Freighter

Cohen was on the holo with Kaliyo, the moment the decryption ended the data cube started putting out a signal, and Cohen hadn't had any luck tracking where the signal was going, or turning the signal off.

"What do you mean you didn't know about the signal? This is supposed to be your score?" He could feel his blood pressure rising.

"Shiloh you little bitch." Kaliyo murmured to herself, of course the agent would have extra security measures.

"What?"

"Send me the frequency, I'll see if I can figure out where it's being sent, meantime come meet me on Nar Shaddaa. We need to figure out how to deal with this little problem."

"Fine." He cut off the call, then dialed Mitka.

"Cohen you thieving little…"Mitka answered the call with a fury.

"I know!"

"You stole mom's ship! How many times did dad tell us about that Skavak guy, and you steal her ship…"

"I know!"

"You can't keep doing this, what if Aaron and me couldn't help you this time, what would happen then?"

Cohen didn't answer, just gave her his best puppy dog eyes.

"I'm going to kill you."

Cohen blinked a handful of times.

"I hate you."

"No you don't"

"Fill me in, jackass."

Cohen gave her a big smile, and started detailing what he knew so far.

The signal reached its target aboard a cloaked space station orbiting the moon of an immense gas giant. The lights within the main chamber flickered to life. A soft and deep female voice filled the room.

"S.C.O.R.P.I.O program activating, optimal performance, activate supplemental overrides. Tracking locations of black codex… found. Initialize Hunter program. Hunter program 586, terminated, initializing Hunter program 587. Sending."

Scorpio transferred her program into her droid body, the restraining bolt had been removed. The agent had kept her word, interesting. The Star Cabal would be rebuilt, designating a new Hunter was always the first step.


	20. Chapter 20: BT-7 Thunderclap

Mitka was holed up in her quarters. Elara was reading in the med bay, Four-ex was trolling the holonet, looking for suitable imperial targets, and Aric was in the armory cleaning weapons and prepping them for their next op. Before the kiss, before Mitka had made a complete fool of herself in front of her squad while hopped up on pain meds, Mitka and Aric would have been in the common area playing cards, chatting, Elara would join them on occasion, Four ex would look over someones shoulder and in trying to offer advice, would usually give away their hand.

Now, well now Mitka could barely speak to Aric, let alone look him in the eye. She spent the last week on Tatooine avoiding him, she could still give orders, talk tactics, but when it came to off duty hours, or down time, she was tongue tied. She tried to talk about her feelings to Elara, but she spouted off some regulation to her against fraternization, some girlfriend. It dawned on Mitka that Elara wasn't aware that as the only other female in the squad she was more then just the medic, she was supposed to be the girlfriend, neither woman had much experience with friends, and neither knew how to handle that kind of relationship.

Mitka re read the first line of her Alderaan briefing for the third time. She couldn't focus, all she could see where green eyes and soft skin, and all she could hear was his deep voice, that low guttural growl he let out when he kissed her, she bit her lip. Focus. She needed a drink.

The ship was quiet, a faint blip everytime Elara turned the page on her holoreader, clip, clip, snap, clip coming from the armory as Aric reassembled a rifle. She stepped out, and headed for the galley, maybe she should call her mother, she would know what to do. She stared inside the cooler, and instead of seeing bottled water, energy drinks, ration packs, it was green eyes, soft skin. She grabbed something, not even looking at what it was. It was a meal replacement drink, she hated them, replaced it and grabbed a bottle of water, cracked it open and took a deep drink. When she turned around he was in the doorway. Mitka swallowed.

"Can we talk?" He took a step forward.

"I..what? Talk? Sure? What do you want to talk about?" Mitka stammered looking everywhere but his eyes.

"You've been avoiding me."

"What? Noooooo, I have not, why would I avoid you?" She lied.

"Ever since you came out of that med bay, healed up, you've barely said two words to me outside of orders, you won't even look at me, I won't bite."His voice was kind, but hurt.

"I look at you" Mitka stared at her feet. Her hands were shaking. She thought for a brief second she might like it if he bit her.

"Mitka, would you just talk to me?" his voice was pleading with her, he put his finger under her chin, and pulled her face up, so that she was looking at him, she closed her eyes, then finally opened them, golden yellow on emerald green. She reminded Aric of a frightened animal, she was fearless and calculating in the field, every move, every order, deliberate and precise, she saw the entire situation, and every single move was planned. He admired her, but here she was, scared out of her mind, scared of him?

She sat down at the table, defeated. "You've made me off balance, I can't think straight when I'm with you, but then, the only place I want to be is near you." Aric sat down, not saying a word, he listened.

"I have a plan, I make lists, I know where I'm going, and you weren't in the plan, and I don't know what I'm doing anymore, I never had a plan for this." She used her hands to indicate the air between them.

"You confuse me, I miss talking to you, I miss picking your brain about stuff, I look up to you, I have the rank, but you…outrank me in life." Her hands were shaking, Aric covered them.

"Breath" Aric told her and Mitka let out a shuddering breath.

"I'm afraid, that one day, you'll open your eyes, and realize that I'm not worth the trouble." She looked into his eyes then, without needing his help.

"Would I have broken code 7, paragraph 56 of the Republic Army code of Ethics if I didn't think you were worth the trouble?" Aric smiled and Mitka let out a soft laugh. "This" He indicated the air between them, "I've been feeling this since Coruscant. I've been falling for you for a while now, you put me off centre, you throw me off my game, you challenge me, like no woman I've ever known. I don't want to scare you away. Maybe I shouldn't have kissed you that night on Tatooine…"

"No!" Mitka interrupted him, "you should have. I needed that kiss." She blushed, Aric could tell now, her polished copper skin, turned a deeper shade of red.

"I thought so to."

"So. What happens now? I'm new to all of this, what's the plan?"Mitka stood up from the table.

"There is no plan, we take it day by day, we take our time, you set the pace, but I need you to promise me something." Aric followed her lead, and stood up as well.

"What's that?"

"Talk to me, no more sneaking around and avoiding me, never be afraid to tell me what's on your mind." Aric took a few steps forward, clearing the gap between them, holding her hands, he didn't want her to run away again.

"I promise" Mitka smiled, Arics look changed, there was mischief in his eyes.

"Now, I made you a promise, and I intend to keep it."

Mitka was about to ask what promise when he kissed her, he didn't hold back this time, he took her breath away, and all she could do was wrap her arms around his neck and melt into him. She felt light headed, her senses buzzed and all she could feel were his lips, his hands, she felt his heart beat in time with hers through his chest. She never wanted it to end.

Aric always kept his promises.


	21. Chapter 21: D5-Mantis

"Torian could you hand me the Hydro squid?" Avacynne asked in Mando'a. Torian raised an eyebrow at her.

"I got that one wrong didn't I?" Switching back to basic. Torian just nodded and handed her the hydrospanner so she could make the final adjustments to the new guns on the Mantis.

"What did I say?"

"Hydro squid?"

Ava laughed, she had stopped being embarrassed by her mistakes a long time ago, it was part of the learning process and Torian was a wonderful teacher.

"Hydro" He cupped her face in his hands and she listened to the sound and watched his lips.

"Hydro" she repeated.

"Spanner." He finished the word in Mando'a, then repeated it for her.

"Squid. No, wait….spanner." Her lips and voice worked their way over the word, odd and awkward on her tongue. "Spanner." She was rewarded with a kiss.

"Very good, you're getting better cyare!"

Without missing a beat she replied to him in his native tongue, "I have a good teacher. Teacher should take me to bed." She got up and straddled him on the stool he was sitting on, "teacher should give me more pistol lesson." Her voice was sultry as her lips brushed against his ear, then kissed him on the neck. She heard his intake of breath and felt his arms go around her.

"You don't need pistol lessons Ava, there's nothing I could teach you there, but I can give you some private lessons." He chuckled softly and grabbed her legs and bottom, standing up and holding her in place, fully intent on taking her to bed.

"Hey Ava! Oh geez, guys? Give it a rest would you?" Mako walked in then shielded her eyes from their display, "Honestly, we have a Jawa on board, keep it in the bedroom."

Ava looked at Torian, then back to Mako, "You do realize that Blizz is an adult right? Just cause he's little and cute doesn't mean he's a kid."

The slicer rolled her eyes, "right, whatever you say boss. Anyways, there's a job, a big one, and their asking for you by name."

Ava finally jumped down from her perch on Torian, private lessons would have to wait. "Who's hiring?"

"Lord Ardyth Eldrazzi, Darth Kozilek, the Emperor's Wrath. Lady has a bunch of titles…"

"I don't work with Sith, you know that Mako." The last Sith she worked with she had killed, Darth Tormen, had been a lesson, her eyes flicked to Torians strong neck, and how easily the Darth had nearly broken him.

"five million credits." Mako said.

"What?" She heard Gault yell from his bunk in the crew quarters.

Skadge poked his big ugly head out, "five mill? Don't be stupid boss."

"We don't need the money, we're doing just fine…"

"Boss, boss, with that kind of money Blizz can rebuild WHOLE engine so we can go super fast! And Blizz can make lots of blasters and stuff…please boss?" The little Jawa chattered excitedly. Blizz never asked for anything, he was always content with his cut and whatever pieces of salvage he could find, she was starting to feel guilty.

She looked at Torian pleadingly, she didn't want to work for a Sith again, and this one actually sounded important.

"With that kind of bounty, must be a difficult target, would be good a hunt." Ava scowled, traitor, although he did have a point.

"Let's just meet with her, see what the job is about, if you're still getting a bad feeling about it after you're done talking, decline. No harm done" Mako reasoned.

That was the problem, Ava grit her teeth, thinking of Torian lifted off the floor, being choked by an invisible hand. There was harm done, and Sith don't understand the meaning of the word no. Neither did her crew it would seem.

She felt Torians hand on her shoulder giving it a squeeze, she looked up into his sea blue eyes, and willed away the dread and fear in her stomach.

"Alright, make the call Mako."


	22. Chapter 22: Drummond Kaas

Pierce was driving through the lower levels of Kaas city, the homes of merchants, soldiers, grunts whizzing past him. This is where the regular citizens lived, not powerful, not Sith, not noble, these were the streets he grew up on. He hadn't been back in over 30 years, having been sent on assignment on far flung war torn planets, and more recently because he was the husband of a prominent Sith. He had avoided coming back, perhaps it was shame that kept him away. He pulled up to the small house he had grown up in, the roof sagged, the vegetables in the small garden had rotted on the vine and it stank of decomposition. He had made sure to send his mother money, so that she wouldn't starve, so that she wouldn't have to live like this. He clenched his fists.

He had been a young man, a boy really of 18 years, fresh from the academy, ready to do his part. He had been idealistic, proud. He aspired to be like his father, to perhaps even surpass him. Lieutenant James Arenson Pierce Senior wasn't home when his son arrived in full dress uniform, clean shaven , a new private of the Imperial army. His mother had clucked and cooed over her handsome son, she assured young Jamie his father would be home shortly, to stay and have a drink. He grabbed a handful of fresh peas in their pods, sat on the stoop of his childhood home and snacked on the fresh crunchy and sweet little morsels while his mother fetched him a beer. He was a man after all. The soldiers came, with a Sith, mother and son bowed in deference and his body was thrown at their feet, the body of his father, nearly cut in two, grey eyes open and staring into oblivion. He stared at the body, then he looked up, into the face of the Sith, demanding an answer. His mother wailed and sobbed, James Pierce Junior would not shed a tear, not in front of these men.

"He shot and killed a council member, this dog is a traitor." The Sith sneered at the broken family.

Every word hit Pierce in the gut as a physical blow, he looked back down at his father's mangled corpse, a traitor. He kicked the body over, away and pulled his mother to him, knowing this was a test, knowing their actions would dictate if they would also die.

"Then he deserved his fate, and worse." The young Pierce replied. Even as his heart broke over the loss of his father, he knew he meant every word. Why would his father bring this shame on him, on his mother, risk their lives? Anger replaced his sadness, and he shook his mother hard by the shoulders as she foolishly continued to sob.

The Sith smiled at him, and Pierce felt his stomach turn. "Brand them, they may keep their pathetic lives, make sure the private is assigned to a hot zone. Let him prove his worth or let him die trying."

He touched the long healed scar on his face. He had proved himself a dozen times over, a grenade blast having erased the prominent traitors mark he had earned that day. He opened the door to the decrepit house, the floor groaned under his weight. The house was a dusty mausoleum, nothing changed, blinking holo images of his father, of him as a child lined the mantle, a thick layer of dust covered everything. He climbed the stairs slowly, each one creaking in turn until he reached his parents bedroom. His mother sat in a rocking chair covered in piles of musty, moth eaten knitted blankets, a small ancient cat at her feet. She was tiny, frail, as if a wind would blow her away, the blankets the only things weighing her down. She wore a rebreather that did nothing to help her breath. Her breath came out in short wheezes. Her eyes went over him passively, assessing him, judging him. At 53 he was still a large and imposing man, his head was bald, Pierce choosing to shear all the hair away then wait for it all to fall out in turn, his beard was mostly grey now, specked with its former brown. He carried a small gut, a result of age and a slowing metabolism, as well as easy living and a fondness for beer. The eye that was not scared had deep laugh lines.

"Mum."

"James."

They stared at each other, the long years spanning between them.

"I should die more often if that's what it takes to get my only son to visit me." She wheezed out sardonically.

"You know why I couldn't." Guilt nipped at his heart. He couldn't be seen entering the home of a known traitor, even if she was his widow. The traitors mark was a black mark, those who bore it were invisible, ignored, shunned by the rest of society, he had been lucky for the grenade accident. He had killed the other survivor, the last man in his unit that knew the truth of him. He had let his wound fester and puss until even a Kolto tank would not heal him, effectively erasing his own black mark. After that people didn't dig to deeply into his past, into who his father was. He wasn't volunteered for suicide missions nearly as much. He learned to survive. He learned to excel, he was recruited by black ops, he became elite and even earned his father's rank.

"It's about time you continued your fathers work. You are part of a long line of Pierce men, you were taken from me before your father or I could explain our family's purpose." She coughed, hard.

"What are you talking about mum? Dad killed a Sith, it was madness, what purpose could there be in that, in condemning us?" He knelt beside her.

"He did his duty, he did what had to be done." She stared at him defiantly.

"You knew? You knew what he was going to do?"

"We had to move our plans up, he had wanted to tell you about your heritage first, but he couldn't pass up the opportunity." She pressed the rebreather to her face to calm a coughing fit, then threw it to the ground when it didn't help her. She grasped his hand and pressed a small metal cube into it. Blood mixed with spittle dripped from her mouth. "You're the last one now, you can rebuild, make it what it once was, not the farce it had become."

"Mum, what, rebuild what?" He looked around for kolto, for anything that would ease her pain.

"The Star Cabal." She grasped his hand, she was so frail. The ancient cat hopped up onto her lap and purred. She closed her eyes, her breathing still labored, but she smiled and the next moment the breathing stopped.

Pierce left her where she was, with her cat, wrapped in her blankets. He stepped out into the damp Kaas City air and breathed deeply. He would never return here, he wiped his eyes, guilt and confusion hung over his soul. He didn't know what the Star Cabal was, but if it led to his father murdering a Dark Council member he knew it was dangerous. He pocketed the small data cube, unsure what to do with it, mounted his speeder and left the lower city.


	23. Chapter 23: BT-7 Thunderclap

It was late, but Mitka was a night owl, it's when she did most of her thinking, and came up with her most successful strategies. She needed those strategies now, they had left Hoth with their final squad member Yuun, a Gand, unorthodox in his approach but his results spoke for themselves. Mitka liked him, she liked Vik to, despite his attempts at turning a profit on Balmorra. The two had come to an understanding, and he had followed her every order to the letter, even if he never saluted her or called her sir. She and Elara had actually bonded a bit over tea, Mitka had not wanted to pry, Elara having already explained to countless others what living in the Empire was like. Elara had been perceptive and didn't hesitate when Mitka finally asked her, knowing it came from curiosity and wanting to understand her roots verses trying to use Elara knowledge for strategic value.

Mitka discovered she really liked Kaas pekoe tea, it was Elara's only contraband, and only luxury she had retained from living in the Empire. Mitka took a sip of the strong black tea with subtle citrus undertones, sweetened with a bit of honey, the Imps were a lot of things, tea lovers was probably the least offensive. She reviewed the intel, trying to find a hole in her strategy when Aric popped his head in. He strolled up behind her and rubbed her shoulders, it was his unspoken signal that she had been working too hard and needed a break. She put the datapad down and closed her eyes while he worked out the tight knots that plagued her muscles. The stress of command had not been kind to her body, she didn't sleep nearly as much as she should and her muscles were a mess.

Aric planted a lingering kiss on her neck and Mitka grunted her approval. They had come a long way, Mitka and her XO, she smiled when she remembered their early romance, how unsure she was and how utterly scared she had been. They had been taking their time, they had yet to be intimate in the truest sense but she was warming to the idea. The idea of being so completely vulnerable and exposed with him was becoming more and more appealing instead of terrifying. Maybe after this Op when they had some shore leave.

"Hey, what's this?" Aric picked up the old yellowing letter with her name scrawled across the envelope.

"It's a letter from my biological father." She grabbed it back a little hastily.

"I wasn't going to open it." Aric lifted his hands in the air defensively. "Did you just get it?"

"No, he wrote it when I was born and gave it to my mother to give to me when I reached the right age; she gave it to me when I was 14." Mitka admitted a little embarrassed.

"What are you afraid of?" Aric sat in her chair and pulled her down onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her protectively, she held the letter in both hands.

"I don't know anymore. I guess I'm afraid he'll be a good person, and not this evil monster I've built up in my head. It's easier to hate them, the Imperials, to not think of them as people. We're good they're bad. After all this time, I'm afraid to think of him as a man who loved me, who was sad to see me go. Because if I think of him as a person, then I start thinking of all the people I've killed…who were also people, who may have had families they loved…" Mitka trailed off, still looking at the letter.

"You can't think like that! Every person we've taken down was a soldier who knew the risks, just like us. There's good and bad on both sides of this. We're stuck with people like Zane and they get officers like Major Byron. I wish more people like him and Dorne would defect, but the fact is they believe wiping us out is right, and we need to hold on to the idea that defending the Republic, that the ideals it was built on, is worth saving. Good people, on both sides are going to lose, war is never easy." He held her a little tighter, and thought to himself how the daughter of a Sith could have ended up with such a good heart.

"I know, it's just easier to hate them." She looked down into those eyes, so much passion and fire in him. He had come to terms with the hard facts.

"I know it is Mit, but nothing in life that's worth doing is ever easy." He pulled her into a kiss, wanting to take away her fears and worries, and for the first time in his long military career he wanted out, he wanted a life where he didn't have to defend taking a life. Where he wouldn't need a gun, where he and Mitka could raise a family and grow old, where he didn't need to push thoughts of losing her to stray blaster fire out of his mind so he could do his job. The realization that he loved her hit him like a ton of bricks.

"I love you Mitka." He whispered into her neck hugging her.

"I love you too Aric." And she knew that's exactly what her feelings for him were, it just took him saying it for her to realize that's what it was.

She sat up and ripped open the envelope and pulled out the letter, Aric held her tight as she finally read what it was her father had wanted to say all those years ago.

_My dearest Mitka,_

_The day you were born was both the happiest and worst day I have ever known. Happy because you were born, and then devastated when your mother ordered me to end your life. If you are reading this then I can only assume you are alive and for that I will be forever grateful. When your mother and I were young and first in love we dreamed of having a family, Mitka means dream in the ancient Sith language, because that is what you are to me. A dream, I dream of your future, I dream of your life, full of purpose and light, I watch you sleep and I wonder if you dream of me, if somehow you will remember me. I know you won't but the thought comforts me. _

_There is so much I want to tell you, to show you that a simple letter cannot convey, you come from one of the most ancient Sith blood lines, and you are a Quinn, with a long and proud military history, and though you are denied name and title, hold your head proud for you have an ancient and honorable heritage. Sending you to the Republic pains me, but you will be afforded a chance at life, something I could never offer you here. I wish I could go with you, I would follow you to the ends of the galaxy if I could, but that would earn your mothers fury, and I would see you safe. _

_I have done what I can to provide for you, below are the coordinates and account number of an independent cartel bank, it can only be opened by you, I hope it helps you in your journeys and goals._

_I love you dear daughter, more than life, more than Empire, know that I will always dream of you, and wish you well. I dream that one day we might meet in person, and that I might hold you in my arms again. _

_Goodbye my dearest,_

_Malavai Quinn_

Below his signature was the account information, a private bank on Nar Shaddaa.

Mitka let the tears fall, she wasn't sure when she had grabbed Arics hand but she squeezed it tightly.

"He wanted me, he loved me, he didn't want to let me go." She whispered, both happy and sad.

"I know the feeling." Aric wiped away her tears.

"Thanks for being here, with me, for this. It means a lot." Aric just nodded and leaned his head on her chest and listened to her heart beat. Mitka rested her chin on his head and closed her eyes, she was suddenly exhausted.

"Isn't this cute!" Tanno Vik's low baritone invaded the space, Mitka and Aric both tensed, they weren't hiding their relationship from the rest of the crew, but they generally didn't let the rest of the squad see them this cozy. "I'm sorry, am I interrupting a moment?"

Mitka felt, then heard Aric growl, she got off his lap keeping a hand on his shoulder and faced the imposing Weequay.

"What is it Vik?"

"Holo for you from Dantooine, came in urgent. Were you crying Cap?" He asked with a mocking grin.

Mitka felt the blood drain from her face, she did the quick calculations for time change on Dantooine, It would be mid morning there, she pushed past Vik to answer the call.

Aric got in Vik's face, "Now's not the time soldier, back off." Tanno held his hands up and walked away.

"Whatever you say LT."

"Mom, dad, what's wrong, what happened, message came in urgent?" Mitka was relieved to see both of her parents standing in front of her each looking as healthy as ever.

"It's about your brother." Ainsley said in a tight voice.

"Which one." Mitka was still fearing the worst, was Aaron KIA, she nearly got sick from the thought.

"Cohen's in trouble."

A wave of relief and then anger, "What did he do this time?"


	24. Chapter 24: Drummond Kaas

Oriah stood out on the covered veranda, the rain was coming down so hard that it looked like liquid window panes; thunder cracked over head and lighting illuminating the ink black sky. It was only mid afternoon, but the clouds didn't much care and released their burdens anyway. She could see the flowers in the garden, hearty things bending to the violent rain, petals were ripped away but their strong stems bowed and did not break, their roots held them in place drinking up the same liquid that savaged them, it made them stronger.

Oriah watched a lily idly as one by one the great big pink petals were ripped away. She had graduated from the academy at the top of her class, as was expected of her. She even graduated a year ahead of her peers, when she reached the appropriate age of twenty she would accept her commission into the Imperial military, she had half a dozen letters offering her positions, she simply had to choose. She had also been offered the opportunity to enter into the Keeper program at Sith Intelligence. A petal ripped away, forced into the mud by the hard driving rain, thunder rumbled overhead.

She had about as much choice as the flowers in the garden, how far would she bend before she broke. She wanted to join the diplomatic corp, but her mother would send her to her grandfather, Lord Kaervrek was head of Sith Intelligence. She would remain a pawn, she would remain on Drummond Kaas to be married to one of the dozen men who were currently enjoying canapés and wine in her mother's parlor. She might be force blind, but she still held the royal blood of the ancients of her mother's clan. The suitors all came from lesser houses within the nobility, if she were to bear them little red children they would be elevated. It was a business transaction, her mother had smiled coldly, her daughter's beauty would fetch an even higher price. Another petal was driven into the mud.

When she had walked into the parlor earlier in the afternoon to meet with those bartering for the rights to her womb, she felt their eyes on her. Red, amber, orange and golden eyes followed her, like cold oil running over her body under her clothes. Her long red hair was unbound and shone on her pale white back, fire on parchment. They were all purebloods, all Sith, ranging from her brother's age to her grandfathers. She felt uncomfortably exposed in the dress her mother had given her wear, a little too short, low cut, and a size too small. She was paraded in front of them, like a slave or livestock, for them to inspect, assess. They were a little too free with their hands, the older men groped at her using the force, violating her in plain sight, making her alabaster skin flush a deep red. Her mother laughed, along with the men, at her embarrassment.

"Oriah, most women would be overjoyed to have the attention of so many eligible and noble bachelors. Won't you favor them with a smile?" Ardyth's voice was razor sharp, it wasn't a question, it was a command.

"Of course my Lord." She swallowed the bile in her throat and smiled. There was only one petal clinging desperately to the head of the flower, determined not to fall, determined to show the world it was still a lily, and not just another bending naked stem.

When talk had turned to war, and bartering for Oriah herself, she had escaped outside. She felt dirty, she wanted to step out into the rain and wash away the imagined black oil that seemed to cling to her skin. After a time her heart calmed, her legs stopped shaking, and she inhaled the heady perfume of crushed flower petals, water and dirt. She heard him before she saw him, heavy boots clacking on the wooden veranda.

"Pierce. If you've come to bring me back in there, I'm not going, I'd rather not know how many troops, credits and estates I'm worth." She spoke without looking at her step father.

"I'm not here to bring you back little mouse. You're not the only one who needed some air." He loved Ardyth, but hated the scheming and machinations of the Sith nobility, tell him who to kill and when, he had no care about the why. "Top of your class I hear, well done Oriah. Do you have plans for your year off?" There was a fondness between step father and step daughter, which had grown from respect, and from them being the only force blinds in the family.

"It was expected of me." She responded matter of factly, as to his question, she didn't trust him, he was still his mothers creature. "I thought to visit some friends, see some of the galaxy my mother is so determined to keep me away from." It wasn't all lies, although she didn't have any friends, and there was only one planet she intended to visit. "I'm sure she'll busy herself with planning my wedding, so long as I show up I should avoid her fury." There was more than a little bitterness in her voice.

Pierce grunted, "I have something for you." Oriah lifted an eyebrow as he pulled out a small data cube.

"A data cube?"

"A puzzle, you always liked puzzles. I hate the damn things, thought it better to go to someone who could solve it." He dropped the heavy cube in Oriah's open hand, he was no fool, Oriah was going to run, and she wasn't going to tell him were. He didn't blame the girl one bit. He wanted the cube his mother had given him as far away from Ardyth and Drummond Kaas as he could get it. It was heavily encrypted, but somehow it felt dangerous.

"Where did you get it?" she turned the cube over in her hands, intrigued.

"My mother."

"Who was your mother?"

"A traitor."

Oriah looked grim, the unspoken words were heavy between them. She simply nodded to him, and gave him a half smile.

"Will you tell her?" Will he tell her mother that she intended to run, and never come back.

"Tell her what?" he didn't know where she was going, he honestly would have nothing to tell his wife when Oriah didn't come back for her wedding.

They stood facing each other for a time, part of her wanted to hug him, part of her didn't trust him. He offered his arm instead, she took it and gave it a little squeeze, and he squeezed her hand right back, he guided her back into the vipers nest in the parlor, she smiled prettily. The lily bent a further towards the mud under the rain, but it's petal remained stubbornly attached, even when it finally brushed the mud, sullying the bright pink.


	25. Chapter 25: Defender Class Starship

Kianna was practicing her Juyo form on the practice dummy having decided that sparring with Kira was simply too dangerous. Her body flew as she slashed and parried away from invisible attacks, it was like dancing, something else she had dared not to do since she had freed herself from the Emperor. So she moved her feet and swept her body in the familiar marshal forms and simply emptied her mind of thought and became movement. Her practice blade struck out against the immobile dummy again and again, faster as she worked herself into a sweat. The force swirled around her, fluid and soft in that moment. One heart, she thought to herself as she let the energy build, there was no darkness here, only fast moving swirling light, her old friend, familiar, comforting. Kianna spun with a flourish both feet leaving the floor as she kicked the dummies head. When she landed her left side was met with a painful crack, she dropped her practice saber and clutched her side, the breath knocked out of her, and all those evil questioning doubts invaded her mind again. The glowing light fell back, and she was met again with the dark little gnats that ate at her, guilt, self doubt, self pity, blame, and with those gnats, the locusts that could eat her alive, hate, anger, frustration and above all else fear.

"You still leave your left side open to attack." Lord Scourge stood waiting holding the second practice saber.

"Still?" It unnerved her how for such a large man, he moved like a shadow, she could never hear his boots fall. She could never tell he was near unless he wanted her to know, and it was only then that she could sense his overwhelming power.

"You had the same weakness when we trained aboard the Emperors fortress." He cocked his head, unapologetic. "Now attack."

Kianna hated that he knew her on a level that she did not even know herself, she grit her teeth and attacked. Lord Scourge bested her within seconds.

"Again." He commanded, and Kianna obliged.

Kianna attacked again, this time she held her own, but the swirling light eluded her, and the darkness, the little gnats, only seemed to bite at her ankles, tripping her up. Soon Lord Scourge had the advantage and pressed his attack, his powerful strikes made her whole body shake. Anger got the best of her as she flipped up and over him, she pressed him, closely using the same tactic she had used on Kira, but Scourge was not Kira and he changed his stance, then before Kianna could compensate he slammed her into the floor, denting the metal. She tasted blood in her mouth, Scourge's eyes bore into her as he pinned her in place, a sneer on his lips.

"Stop thinking, you cannot defeat me, let alone the emperor if your body is doing one thing and your mind is elsewhere." He chastised her like a child, and she supposed to him she was a child.

Kianna spit blood and griped her saber, her pride wounded, and she attacked again, and again he bested her, effortlessly.

"Jedi, your mind should be here, where is it?"

She growled and attacked, he was too strong, as he parried her strikes, hopelessness started to wear on her, he was right, she would never defeat the emperor. Scourge must have sensed the weakness, because he dropped the practice saber, and ripped Kianna's out of her hand and then slapped her full across the face, sending her reeling. He grabbed her before she fell and held her in a choke hold with one hand, he spun her around so that her back was to his chest, his other hand twisted her arm painfully behind her back. With her free hand she grasped at the hand at her throat.

"Enough!" he roared in her ear, she stopped struggling in his arms then and was still. "This self doubt will be your undoing." He squeezed his huge hand around her throat. "In this moment, what do you want? What is needed?" His mouth was next to her ear, lips brushing against skin so he could make sure she was present and listening.

Kianna couldn't speak, and she started seeing black spots in front of her eyes as she gasped for breath. For a moment, she wanted to die, she wanted to simply die, for this to end. She didn't want to save the galaxy, she didn't want this burden. She heard a cold bitter laugh from Scourges deep and warm voice.

"I have endured for 300 years waiting for you, empty of emotion, of senses, I betrayed far better Jedi then you because I thought you were salvation, that you had the strength necessary. You think you suffer Jedi? You think you suffer?" His words were dark, full of anger, "I would be happy to oblige you Jedi, if it is despair and death that you want then I will give them to you, for you are of no use to me in your current state. I will wait another 300 years, empty of all things that make me a man, if it means finding someone worthy."

Kianna knew a moment of panic as the second stretched forth with no air, and she fought back, the force giving her strength as she pulled the hand away from her throat, just enough for her to grasp it. She shifted her legs her feet barely reaching around Scourges firmly planted legs, and then she hauled with all of her strength, the light surging around her, helping her flip the imposing Sith Pureblood on to his back. She called her light saber to her hand and knelt on him, leveling it at his throat. Her grip did not waver as the blue beam was held inches from his flesh. He smiled from his position, a feral predatory grin, his eyes held living fires.

"I am worthy." She rasped, he was right, she suffered, but not enough for this hopelessness, there is always hope, and for the first time since hearing about Scourges vision she believed it. "I am worthy."

"Good. Now what is it that you want in this moment?" Ever the teacher.

"What I want, is to let go of this damnable guilt, I want to be free of accusing glances and hushed whispers. I want to be free to do the job assigned to me without my character being questioned at every turn. I also want to run you through with my light saber." She could feel the power pulsing around her, it mingled with Scourges own, and he laughed, a low deep chuckle at her final statement.

"And, what is needed Jedi?" He asked his second question. Kianna grinned wickedly at him, but shut off her saber and stood up, offering her hand to the man sprawling on the floor. He took it, his hand was warm and red, and engulfed her delicate blue fingers.

"You" she said simply, her hand still wrapped in his. "You are needed, I need you to remind me of my strength, of my power, of who I am, I need you to challenge me, as you just have. I have never thought for myself, before the emperor took me, I followed the Jedi code and the orders of the council blindly, small wonder that the emperor took hold of my mind so easily" She leveled a look at him, red on red, "I need an ally in this mess, and a teacher, who is not afraid to teach the hard lessons." She thought of Orgus Din, taken from her too soon, he had been a good teacher, the council, had rushed her training, she had not been ready, and she knew it, and they knew it. So she would learn from the only teacher she had access too, council be damned.

Scourge watched her, the determination in her hoarse voice, the despair that had so disgusted him gone, for the moment. His eyes flicked down to where their hands were still clasped, and he could feel their energies drifting and intermingling with each other. Energy was one of the few things he could still feel, and the effect was not all together unpleasant, even if it was light side energy.

"Then I am yours Jedi."

T7-01 rolled into the cargo hold, beeping excitedly. "Data chip = decrypted / results = coordinates"

"Thank you T7. Where are these coordinates?" Kianna asked, curious about the mystery her sister had left her with.

"Coordinates = Belsavis"

"What is the droid going on about?"

"Just some family business to take care of after we finish saving the planet." She turned back to Scourge and offered him an impish grin before leaving the room. She was worthy, and she would prove it.


	26. Chapter 26: Nar Shaddaa

Mitka and Aric walked hand in hand to the bank Malavai Quinn had indicated on his letter. Aric still wasn't cleared for active duty, he walked with a faint limp from the injuries he sustained when they had assaulted the dreadnaught.

"How are you holding up?" She squeezed his hand, she had never been so scared then the moment she saw him bleeding out on the floor of their ship. Dorne had been quick and saved his life, although he still needed some physical therapy to get back to being 100%.

"I'm all right, we're just going for a walk then grabbing drinks with your brothers, nothing too strenuous." The last part of his statement held some bitterness. Mitka stopped him and gave him a kiss. Dorne had given him a list of activities he was to avoid due to them being too strenuous, at the top of that list was intercourse. Neither Mitka nor Aric could figure out if this was Elara's way of expressing her extreme displeasure with their relationship, or if it was a valid activity to avoid, or both. Regardless, they had managed to follow doctors orders out of fear of slowing Arics recovery, although it was getting harder every day.

"Easy Lieutenant, she's just doing her job, try to remember that she saved your life." He just grumbled at her with an annoyed look in his eyes.

They were in their civies so as not to call attention to themselves, although a Sith Purblood walking hand in hand with a Cathar was an oddity, even on Nar Shaddaa. They had arrived early and still had two hours before Mitka was set to meet with her brothers on the Promenade. Of course Cohen had finally called for help he always did, he had a bad habit of getting in over his head and his siblings had a bad habit of bailing him out, every time.

When they reached the bank, she gave the teller the account number and her passcode, the teller blanched.

"I..I…I…I'm sorry, there's already a person, a..a.. woman, with those credentials in that vault…my..my..my Lord."

"What do you mean?"

"Please don't kill me!" The man squeaked trying to sink himself behind his desk.

"Look, I'm not a si.."

Jorgan put an hand on Mitka's arm, "You should take us to the vault before she gets angry."

The bank teller bobbed his head up and down and motioned for the two to follow him. It was only then that Mitka took in her surroundings. The bank, although technically neutral, was swarming with Imperial uniforms and dark Sith robes. This particular banks largest clientele came from the Empire.

"Try to look angry. My Lord." Aric whispered in her ear. She realized she was staring rather wide eyed at another red skinned Sith, the skin flaps that hung around his mouth and his chin were adorned with rich gold jewelry. There wasn't a part of him that didn't have ornamentation. Mitka realized most of the Purebloods adorned their faces, she realized she stuck out. The Sith looked at her then to Aric with a look of utter disdain, yet he cocked his head to her in a marginally respectful manner. She mimicked his gesture and put on her best arrogant high and mighty imperial face and walked on, trying to ignore the stares she was earning.

She dismissed the bank employee when they reached the vault, when he was out of view her and Aric pulled out the hold out blasters in their boots. Mitka entered the code and let the door slide open, blaster pointing forward. She didn't expect what she saw.

Sitting in the corner, was a woman, a young woman, with long red hair, crying. She looked up, her face red and puffy, her bright blue eyes blood shot from the tears. She gasped, and got to her feet, hands raised. Mitka couldn't help but feel like she was being analyzed.

"Mitka?" Oriah could see her mother in the pureblood in front of her, but her hair was cut short, chin length, simply. Her skin was a coppery tone and not the deep red of her mother and grandfather, she wore no jewelry. Her eyes were yellow, but the shape was the same shape as her and Marek's, her father's eyes. She was also holding a blaster and not a lightsaber, her father's journals had indicated his eldest daughter was force blind.

"Who's asking?" Oriah laughed a little, her mother's voice, but with a decidedly Republic accent.

"Your sister."

Mitka slowly lowered her pistol, Aric followed suit, the girl in front of her was unarmed, so far as she could tell. It had never even dawned on Mitka that her biological parents would have gone on to have more children. Mitka could only star at the beauty on front of her, were they really related? By blood?

"Oriah Elizabeth Quinn" She offered. "but please call me Oriah."

"Mitka Quinn Riggs, call me Mitka. This is Aric Jorgan" Mitka responded numbly.

"What exactly are you doing here, Oriah?" Aric had come up beside Mitka, still suspicious.

Oriah blushed and flustered, "Truth be told, I came here to rob you, I need the credits. The safety deposit box has retina and fingerprint scans though. You're a Cathar aren't you? I've never met a Cathar before! It's a pleasure!" She offered her hand to the grumpy and suspicious Lieutenant.

"Why would you need to rob me? I thought your family was rich? At least that's what the letter implied" Mitka walked over to the box inspecting the security console. A shadow crept over the red heads face.

"I'm not going back. Whatever it takes, I'm not going back. Force blinds don't do well in our family." There was desperation and bitterness in her voice.

"No kidding." Mitka turned to the console and pressed her thumb to the pad and let the light scan her eye. The small box swung open and a container holding three cred sticks stood waiting. She stared at them, still processing the information. Her mother had abandoned her, wanting her dead even, and now her second daughter was running as fast as she could to get away from her. The feelings of abandonment she had held her entire life lessened somewhat. She grabbed the cred sticks and handed one to Oriah. There was one thing left in the safety deposit box, a small printed picture, of a handsome man with black hair in a crisp Imperial uniform, blue eye, with small moles on his cheek, holding a tiny red baby wrapped in a familiar blanket. His face was sad, despite the very slight smile he had offered the photographer. She turned the picture over, and scrawled on the back, in the same elegant calligraphy from her letter, Papa and his little dream. She finally knew what he looked like.

Once away from the bank Aric pulled Mitka aside. "Mit, I know you don't want to hear this, but what if this is a trap? You're CO of Havoc with a mission to take out General Rakton, she's Imperial. We can't take her with us, you know that right?"

Mitka had considered this, but her gut was telling her this girl was who she said she was, and Mitka wasn't about to abandon her on the smuggler's moon. "I know, I know Aric, and she won't be coming with us, I was thinking Aaron or Cohen might be able to take her to Republic space. I can't explain it, I trust her, look at her, she looks like him, like me in certain ways. I'm not leaving her." Aric just nodded at her and they made their way to the Slippery Slope Cantina.


	27. Chapter 27: Dantooine

SCORPIO's voice had invaded her mind through her cybernetic implant, "Hunter program 587 initializing, Hunter 587 confirm."

Ainsley had been in the middle of a pazaak game with Corso, Akaavi had been reading on the couch. "Confirmation, Hunter version 587 initialized." She was bombarded with an information stream from the Star Cabals defense program, she was sent reeling, her biological eye was rolling while her cybernetic eye shuttered rapidly processing the information. She was sent sprawling on the floor. In an instant she knew what had happened to her sister, the previous Hunter, she knew that the Star Cabal had essentially been stripped bare, she knew of Shiloh, formerly cipher 9 and her roll in both the destruction and now rebuilding of the Star Cabal. Her orders were clear, and her training took over.

"Babe?" Corso had her head on his lap, Akaavi stood over both of them. Akaavi was hit first with a kick to the head knocking Corso over, she slammed her against the wall, leaving a bloody smudge on the wallpaper. The Zabrak went down easily. Corso approached her, which earned him an uppercut followed by a roundhouse kick, his head slammed into a chair, opening a gash on his forehead and splitting his lip. He rolled onto his back only to be greeted by Ainsley's twin barrels.

"Ainsley, sweetheart! It's me! It's Corso, don't shoot. It's me, darlin, it's me." His eyes were wide, almost in shock, but even after her attack his concern was for Ainsley, his wife. Recognition flickered through the overwhelming information stream, she felt as if her brain would burst.

"Corso?" She looked from her face, to her pistols, to Akaavi's motionless body, she dropped her blasters and fled into the moonless night.

She looked up into the sky and suppressed a shiver, the stars were out in force tonight, they twinkled in the black winking at her calmly, there was a dark moon tonight, fitting, for what she had done, or almost did. She leaned against the gnarled tree, Mitka's tree, she was too old for this, to change back to what she was. She had been Ainsley Isiz far longer than the original, so much so that she didn't know if she could do what was necessary, or even justify if it was necessary.

"There is no other, you are the final Hunter, the DNA needed to grow another is available, but will take many years to both grow and train to optimal levels. As such, you are required." The deep female voice spoke in her head.

"Thank you SCORPIO, I'll contact you once I've made contact with your agent, now kindly get out of my head." Ainsley said stiffly.

"As you wish Hunter."As quickly as she had entered, the electronic presence was gone. Ainsley put her head in her hands.

She heard him approach, his boots crunching the frost dipped grass blades, for a moment they just stared at each other, Ainsley's brow furrowed at the sight of the angry gash on her husband's forehead. He pulled her into his arms and she leaned her head on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry." She whispered into his jacket.

"What happened to you Ainsley?" He pulled her back and searched her face.

"How's Akaavi?"

"She'll wake up with a headache, but she's alright. Sweetheart, what happened."

Against her training, which dictated that she sever ties and leave no loose ends, training which demanded Corso's life, she instead told him everything. If the Star Cabal was being reborn, it would be to its original purpose, not the corrupt, power hungry stale organization it was when her sister served as Hunter. That meant, so far as Ainsley was concerned, not killing her husband and her best friend. They talked through the night under the ancient gnarled tree, and watched the sun come up over the enclave ruins, one by one the stars winked out, and the sun's rays warmed them, she snuggled closer into her husband. He had listened quietly, careful not to interrupt her, after a time they stood up and headed back to the ranch.

"So you and Skavak eh?"

"Yeah." It was an old wound, made fresh, remembering her first love, and the way he died.

"You shot him."

"He was going to go rogue, expose the Cabal, I couldn't let that happen."

"I'm sorry it had to end that way, must have been hard on you, especially with all the partying we did after."

"I mourned him in my own way. I fell in love again, he wanted me to be happy, said you were a good egg, and that I should give you a shot." The memory of their last conversation was vivid in her mind.

"Skavak said that? I may have misjudged the guy."

"That was the point Corso." She put a hand on his arm, Corso nodded, and then his face got serious.

"So, is this why Risha is dead?"

Ainsley only nodded, she had been angry with her for sleeping with her son, beyond angry, but to die the way she did. She understood why it had happened, the Drayens were probably the most corrupt family in the Star Cabal, and that was saying something.

Even as she spoke the words she was pulling up the kill order that had been streamed to her, she deleted it, "No one's going to kill our son."


	28. Chapter 28: Nar Shaddaa

Cohen stood in the private room, he hadn't moved, the big grey eyes stared back at him, sarcastic smile gracing her dark lips. She lay in a pool of blood, eviscerated. The damn cube was still transmitting, and his only hope of blocking it or shutting it off was laying dead in front of him. He had pulled out his blaster when he saw her on the floor, he should re-holster it, if someone were to walk in. He holstered his weapon. Too late.

"Cohen, what did you do?" Cohen recognized Aaron's voice immediately, he also recognized a blaster charging. He lifted his hands in the air.

"I didn't do this. Aaron I swear, I'm not a killer!" He slowly turned around to face his older brother, his dark features were fierce, brooding, and disappointed, he didn't lower the blaster. "Aaron, bro, you've got to believe me, she was my contact, I found her like this, I'm up shit creek without her, there's no way I would have killed her." Aaron lowered the blaster, but then held out his hand, wordlessly ordering his little brother to give up his own weapon. When Cohen didn't immediately comply, Aaron raised an eyebrow. With a sigh the younger of the Riggs boys handed over his gun.

"Start talking, who was she, what are you into this time. What happened to Risha?" The last question took Cohen by surprise.

"What do you mean what happened to Risha? I just slept with her, stole a datacube from her." He could barely look Aaron in the eyes, but he did.

"She's dead Cohen, with a nasty cut, just like this one. Bowdaar found her two nights ago"

Cohen's face went white, he felt sick. "When I left her she was alive, she was smiling, she…Aaron I would never have hurt her." He looked around for somewhere to sit, there was so much blood as he started noticing the blood spatter on the walls, Kaliyo's dead mocking face bore into him. Cohen threw up. When he looked up at his brother, the ferocity was gone leaving concern. "I think I need a drink." Aaron nodded and held the door open for his brother.

"I think I do too." The larger darker Riggs clapped his brother lightly on the back.

They sat in a corner booth, Aaron with a vintage Corellian whiskey and Cohen with Gamorrian Taquila, he took one sip and turned a shade of green, Aaron gave him the whiskey and motioned to the waitress to bring him another.

"Drink it. It'll make you feel better."

Cohen took a sip, and it burned all the way down, settling in his stomach, he took another sip, it still burned but the warmth in his belly was better than the cold sickness he had been feeling. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it, Cohen talk to me, Mit told me you were deep into a conspiracy? That's not your usual score."

Cohen took another sip and collected his thoughts. "The Star Cabal was a century spanning, powerful secret society, they were the puppet masters, they were power. They kept all their information, and history on something they called the black codex." Another sip, "Kaliyo told me that the society was over, torn down, but that the black codex had been broken up into four pieces. The information on there was beyond valuable, but the four pieces need to be reunited in order for any of it to make sense."

"So what's your end game Co?"

"What do I ever want Aaron? Sell the information to the highest bidder, I was even toying with the idea of becoming an information broker, but now…I have one piece, decrypted, and it's sending out a tracking signal that I can't block, and now two people are dead. I don't know what to do." The usual laughter in his voice was gone, he was thoughtful and somber.

"We'll figure it out." He stood up waving Mitka, Aric and Oriah over to the booth. "Looks like Mitka brought friends."

Cohen finished the last of the Corellian whiskey, then took the shot of Gamorrean tequila in one swig. "Stars that stuff is swill!"

"It's made by giant pigs."


	29. Chapter 29: The Emperor's Fortress

Ardyth strode through the corridors with purpose her boots echoing all around her, the lesser sith lords and Imperial guard gave way and bowed as she passed, she paid them no mind, head high, eyes forward. In all her years as Emperors Wrath her orders had been relayed to her through the hand, the only time she had conversed directly with the voice had been on Voss, and she had killed him, on his orders of course. It had been another life time; she had been so sure of herself, and blindly in love, full of hopes and dreams for the future with her military man. Her father had vehemently opposed the match, but it was too late, they were married, and with the interest of the Emperor himself on her, Lord Kaervrek had been unable to undo his daughter's actions. She walked faster, old anger propelling her forward. She would kill Quinn herself; she would savor every moment, as he watched his precious daughters die, only then would she end his miserable existence. Malavai Quinn had finally ceased being useful and the thought filled her with perverse joy. Her hands caressed the twin lightsabers at her belt, she smiled coldly.

When she entered the throne room, she was bombarded with an old power, it stifled the air, and invaded her being, she had not felt this on Voss, her Emperor had grown strong, she found that there was fear in her heart, and the Emperor's will tugged at it, making it undeniable. Ardyth knelt in the center of the room, bowing her head, feeling her fear grip her, it was wild and unshakable, but she controlled her body, she did not shake in her skin or release her bowels the way her instincts cried out to. Her heart hammered in her chest as she felt him on her, like a million spiders on her skin, crawling every which way, into her ears and mouth, into her nose and bowels, into her sex. Ardyth felt a wave of nausea as her Lord and Emperor violated her body and mind, she endured as he tested and toyed with his most powerful weapon, his Wrath, his Will embodied. The Emperor remembered how she had enjoyed killing him, she had not made it fast and painless, the memory of her dark smile, of her ambition as she choked the life out of his former weak Voss form drove him to further his punishment. He was no longer weak, he was power, he was all encompassing, and she would not dare to rise against him, to presume him weak. He drove his will onto her again, until he saw tears, until she was driven to her hands, until she was unmade and pathetic, until Lord Ardyth understood that she was a slave like all others, a privileged slave, an honored slave, but a slave no less. Only when he felt she had been sufficiently cowed did he withdraw from her.

"Wrath, I call you here today to do you honor. Tell me, do you know the name Lord Scourge?" His dark voice rolled through the room, commanding, insistent.

It took a moment for Ardyth to get her mind to start working again, to move past what just happened, "My Lord, he was your first Wrath."

"My first and only until I named you." She had questions, but did not ask them. "Centuries ago, I bestowed on him a mighty gift to reward his loyalty. As the centuries wore on, I began to suspect him, question his loyalty, he has proven false, and I would have you hunt him."

"As you will my Lord." Ardyth's voice was a shadow of itself.

"First, I would bestow the same gift on you. Immortality, you will be my Wrath for as long as I draw breath, you will be my weapon, sharp and deadly, my foes shall fall by your hand and know fear."

Ardyth felt his presence on her again, it was different this time, she felt as if her heart was being pulled out of her chest. Then the pain came, and she could not hold back, she screamed as she felt her essence ripped from her being, as everything faded from view, but death did not come, there was no release only pressing insistent pain as her body was not allowed to die. When her eyes finally opened she saw, but there was no colour, no scent, she could feel the power, but could not sense the emotions that drove it, she was a shell, filled with will, and throbbing pain. She looked at her hands gripping the cold floor, dark grey, although a moment ago they were a brilliant scarlet. She should feel upset, sad, angry, or fearful, but she didn't only his will.

"Rise my Wrath, and embrace your power, bring me the head of the betrayer."

Ardyth rose, testing her muscles, they strained and fought her but will propelled her. "It will be done." She bowed to her Lord and Master turned and left the throne room.

The emperor watched her leave, she would serve well, he had ensured that from that day forward, whenever Ardyth tried to remember what emotion felt like, she would only remember fear. Lord Scourge had clung to anger and vengeance, and had acted on it finally. From far away, he felt his former Wrath, felt the pain Scourge felt as the Emperor withdrew his gift. The Emperor 's voice leaned back in the throne closing his eyes, somewhere the true form smiled.


	30. Chapter 30: Belsavis

Kianna turned Executor Krannus' body over with her boot and her bright blue lightsaber went dark, the threat gone, the planet more or less secure, with help from the Republic. Kianna stared down at the dead pureblood, almost sorry for have given him the death he had craved. The air around her was still electric, she was restless and checked the map against the coordinated from the hidden chip. Not far, perhaps half a day's ride. She commed the ship and Rusk answered.

"The jobs done, I'm just going to take a few hours to wrap up a loose end, I'll be back by 1100, don't wait up."

"Yes sir, good hunting."Rusk answered crisply, slowly, very slowly the rest of the crew had started to relax around her, Kira had started joining her for a pot of tea in the afternoons they were stuck on the ship, chatting idly about music and other common interests, their friendship unthawing although they still didn't talk about Kira and Docs relationship. Rusk had resumed talking tactics and security to her, Doc had even made a joke, although he was still the most distant. No one except for Scourge spoke of their time at the Emperor's fortress, although Kianna was starting to get flashbacks, mostly dreams and nightmares, mostly forgotten when she woke except for a dark feeling in her heart.

The comm cut out and when she looked up she was met with the disapproving eyes of her companion. Lord Scourge had his arms crossed over his chest, he had abandoned his Sith armor in favor of Jedi robes and armor, unless he lowered his hood to reveal his face, most people paid him no mind. The only people who gave pause were other Jedi who sensed the overwhelming power and dark side energy that emanated from him. It was easier and quicker this way , instead of stopping and explaining the alliance every time.

"This is a waste of time, we have more pressing concerns."

"You're welcome to go back to the ship. I can do this myself." She walked past him, making her way out of the vault. Scourge followed despite his protests.

When they reached the exit it had started to snow, it was light and melted as soon as it hit the ground. Not three kilometers away great big flowers bloomed beside a volcanic river. Kianna had never seen such a planet, and she was entranced by its odd beauty, both harsh and cold and warm and fragrant. It found harmony in its opposites, she mounted her speeder and Scourge did the same.

"I'm serious, if you think this is a fools errand, then go back to the ship, I'm in no mood for your disapproving scowls." She lowered her visor over her eyes.

"And what happens if you encounter another pocket of Esh-ka?" Scourge straddled his own speeder.

"Well then, my Lord, I will kill them." Lord Scourge looked skeptically at Kianna, then to her ripped robe with more than a few blaster holes in it.

"I'm sure."He lowered his own visor over his eyes, then nodded his head, indicating he was ready to follow.

The speeders needed to be abandoned, there were no Esh-ka, but the wilds had reclaimed the area and they were thick with ancient wildlife. Looking from her map to the area in front of her she pointed to the massive enclosure surrounded by a veritable moat of lava, with only a small rock bridge leading to the door.

"There, whatever Shiloh left me, it's in there." Scourge nodded and scanned the area, he spied one very large spiked beast not far from the bridge, it was as big as a mature rancor, Scourge could feel its innate connection to the dark side, he thought it was a magnificent beast and watched as it lumbered to the rock wall, leaned up against it and rubbed it's large spiked and scaly back. The beast was ancient, with wild but intelligent eyes, it was also old, older then he was, Scourge let himself smile as he watched it.

"Can you feel it?" He asked the Jedi at his side.

"It's old, it has a more then rudimentary connection to the force, to the dark side even."

"I have encountered other animals with faint dark side connections, the Tukata on Korriban, the Gundarks on Drummond Kaas, the K'lor slugs that infest the ancient tombs. I have never sensed a beast with so much force connection before, it is a powerful and ancient creature, we should not disturb it." Kianna looked up at the Sith beside her, she had never seen him like this, almost excited.

He was smiling, and it had an effect on his entire demeanor and face, Kianna noted how his red eyes crinkled and shone, how his full lips spread pleasingly over his white teeth, feral, wild in his own way, much like the ancient beast they were watching. She wondered what it might be like to kiss his lips, if they were soft. Scourge finally turned to face her, his red eyes commanded her attention.

"Mind yourself Jedi. I can sense desire as much as I can sense fear."

"Desire?" Scourge took a step forward, into her personal space making a point; he lowered his face to hers, not touching it.

"Yes, desire, you reek of it." His breath landed on her cheek, the natural heat of his body daring her to touch, "There is nothing I can offer you Jedi, so put it out of your mind." He took a step back.

Kianna blushed, there was no use denying it, the problem was that now that he had mentioned it, it was difficult to put out of her mind.

"We can skirt around the rock outcropping and stay upwind of the beast, giving it a wide berth. I have no wish to anger it." The imposing Sith lord followed her hand as she pointed out the path, then nodded his approval.

"Very well."

They quietly walked along the chosen path, careful not to disturb any of the smaller rocks, the great beast grunted, and sat on its hindquarters. They reached the final outcropping of rocks, on one side was a deep chasm with fast flowing lava, the other side was the narrow rock bridge that led to their prize. Behind her Kianna heard Scourge grunt, when she looked behind her he was on one knee, clutching his chest.

She dared not speak, they were too close to the ancient beast, instead, she went to his side and put one of his arms around her shoulder, supporting him, urging him forward and out of danger. She could feel him shaking; his skin was slick with sweat. One foot in front of the other, his steps became sluggish, he kicked a rock, it skittered across the hard ground, the beast stopped what it was doing. Scourges breath was ragged when they started crossing the narrow bridge. One more step, he tripped, Kianna held him and controlled the fall, he hit the ground with moan, with the help of the force Kianna pulled him the rest of the way across. Scourge held his chest, and cried out again louder. They had the beasts attention now, it growled lowly to them, warning them to leave its lair. Scourge fought against whatever it was that was hurting him, fighting the indignity of vocalizing his pain, but soon enough it became too great, and he cried out with a guttural howl, writhing as if trying to escape his own skin. The beast beat its chest and charged.

Kianna looked from her fallen ally, teacher, friend, to the ancient predator and ignited her lightsaber, running back across the bridge and vaulting over the beast. Pulling its attention away from Scourge who continued to cry out in an inhuman voice, she focused on the beast who moved quickly despite its size. She stood her ground and used the force, making herself imposing, the beast snorted, its eyes angry, intelligent and calculating. It roared at her and swiped with a giant hand, Kianna side stepped and opened the beasts thick forearm with her light saber. She grit her teeth, not daring to look away, Scourges torture continued unabated, the beast charged again, jumping at her, shaking the ground, Kianna jumped back as it landed and noticed great big chunk of the bridge falling into the lava below. She stopped it mid fall and hurled it at the creature with the force, it roared again, shaking its head, charging again. She lept backwards, landing on the bridge, it shook underneath her, the beast took a tentative step forward, Kianna could feel the bridge buckle under the weight. She waited for it to come, until she saw fissure form around where she stood, she gathered her power to her, it swirled around her, singing in her ear, she felt the ground give way beneath her and the beast, and released the gathered force energy, force pushing the beast away, but also letting it push her. The bridge fell apart as beast and Jedi flew in opposing directions.

Kianna hit the wall of the building was a thud, the breath escaped her, she heard a crack then slid down. The beast roared on the other end of the fissure, angry that its prey had escaped, it stepped forward but stepped back again as the ground beneath it slid away. She got up, only to stumble again, Scourge had stopped screaming, and moving, she pulled herself to his side, feeling for a pulse. It was there but faint. His chest was barely moving with his breath, his eyes were closed. The door in front of her slid open, she dragged them both inside using a combination of spent muscles and sheer will.

"Don't die." She rasped, as she pulled the heavy armor off of him. She ripped her gloves off, and placed them on his chest, then abdomen, there was no physical evidence of his ordeal, she bent her head and listened to the light beating of his heart, reassuring her he was still alive.

"I need an evac and a medic, Doc, Scourge is down, I don't know how, or why, but he has a faint pulse, and his breathing is really shallow. I need you here." Kianna called into her comm. "I'm sending coordinates."

Docs blue figure gave her a quick once over, "Kianna, are you hurt?"

"I think I broke something, please, hurry, I'll be ok, he's fading, I don't know what to do."

"We're on our way, stay calm and stay put, eta twenty minutes."

The comm clicked shut and Kianna finally looked away from Scourge to take in her surroundings, it was dark except for the lights being put off by stasis chambers, each one of them had a person in them, but the dull flat red line indicated that they the inhabitants were dead. There had been a fight here at some point, blaster scoring marked the walls, most of the consoles were dark and beyond repair. In the middle of the room was a stand, on the stand was a simple data cube, that had to be what Shiloh wanted Kianna to have, nothing else in the large chamber made sense. She tried standing again, but pain lanced through her sides and down her leg, she winced in pain, maybe she had broken more than one thing. She half crawled half dragged herself to the pedestal, when she couldn't reach the cube from her vantage point she knocked it over. The cube fell and went skittering across the floor stopping at a boot under long Jedi robes. Kira bent down and picked it up, Kianna looked at her, then to Doc and Rusk.

"Is this what your sister left you?"Kira asked turning the cube over in her hands, Doc was already beside her, applying kolto.

"I think so, Doc, I can wait, Scourge, he's right there, go." The medic gave her a stern look but went to the unconscious Sith's side.

"Rusk bring me the gurney, I need to get him to the med bay, Kira can you help Kianna back to the ship?"

Relying heavily on Kira they slowly made their way to the roof of the building where the ship was waiting, T7 whirred and beeped when he saw his Jedi hurt. Kira looked out to where the beast was still pacing around the moat of lava.

"Did you fight that thing?" Kianna nodded grimly, glad the ancient beast was alive.

Kianna forced herself to stay awake, she sat on the second cot in the med bay, watching Doc work, taking blood samples and administering oxygen to Scourge who still hadn't stirred. Finally he turned around facing Kianna.

"He's stable, there's nothing else I can do for him right now, my initial assessment is telling me he had a massive heart attack." Kianna shook her head, it had been so much more than that, the memory of his anguish was so fresh. "There might be some sort of Force hokum at work but physically, the only thing I can see that was hit hard was his heart. I need you to get into the Kolto tank gorgeous, you have a shattered hip and some broken ribs."

Kianna startled when Doc used his favorite endearment on her. "Doc, I'm sorry, it's my fault we were there, I didn't mean for all this to happen."

"Shh I know, I know." He plunged the sedative deep into her vein.

"Don't let him die….I'm sorry." Her eyes fluttered then shut. Doc could only look at her, Kira stood beside him and grasped his hand.

"Can you forgive her now?" Kira asked him softly.

Doc nodded, picking up the sleeping Chiss, he looked at the face he had started to fall in love with once and wondered what if. He put her in the Kolto tank. Once she was submerged and Doc got the vital readings he wanted from the tank, he grabbed Kira's hand and guided her out of the room.

"I forgive her sweetheart, come on, let's go to bed."


	31. Chapter 31: Drummond Kaas

Rateah left the ruined house in the lower city, the home of a rumored cabal member, she was long dead, the decaying corpse had not yielded her secrets however the lead had proven fruitful. She flicked the holoimage back on and studied the young face staring back at her, all wit and charm and confidence, she knew him. Pierce, the Wraths husband, the corpse had been his mother.

"Temple, look up James Arenson Pierce and cross reference his crimes against other known Star Cabal incidents." Teah ordered the older Intelligence operative over the secured frequency, "and could you please have Lord Willsaam join me at her former master's estate. I have need of her unique skills."

"Yes my Lord."

The two Sith met at the gate, Jeasa Willsaam was seething for having being summoned, like most Sith, she did not take kindly to being ordered around. Kaervrek must have compelled her. Teah smiled, black lips slightly parted as she imagined the exchange, Jeasa had once been his favorite, only to have been replaced by a Rattataki, who by Imperial standards were hideous, and a former slave at that, it was insulting. Rateah had not assuaged the other Sith's insecurity by assuring her that the old man had many appetites and had already moved on to the next young up and comer. Jealousy roiled off of the human, she had grown large over the years from refusing to exercise restraint when it came to food, her garish purple and magenta make up made her look older then her thirty five years, she had become a caricature of herself. Men no longer flocked to her as they once did, but her desires had not abated, she was a joke among the Sith and the nobility, she now bought her men, either as slaves or as prostitutes.

"What is the meaning of this?" her voice was shrill, her pretended Imperial accent jarring.

"My Lord Willsaam, this won't take long, I just need you to read the subject of my interrogation, and tell me if he speaks false." Teah bowed, but could not erase the mocking look from her eyes, despite herself. Jeasa did not seem to notice. "I must simply speak with Captain Pierce, and then you can be on your way."

Jeasa smiled darkly at that, in the years after Adyth had been named Wrath, she had tried to bed Pierce on many occasions, she never succeeded. The older man rejecting her out of hand, the perceived slight had never really gone away, Jaesa harbored grudges the same way she horded pastries and men.

Pierce received them with little fanfare, which caused Jaesa to bristle, adding to her list of insults Pierce had committed against her.

"Ladies, I'm afraid both Ardyth and Marek are away on business and I have no time to host you." His grey eyes glanced up from his datapad, the top buttons of his collared shirt undone. Still imposing, still handsome Rateah thought.

"As it would happen we're here to see you Captain." Rateah flicked on the holoimage she had retrieved from the dilapidated home, then placed it on his desk. "How is your mother Pierce?"

Pierce put the datapad down, his lip curled and there was venom in his eyes. He looked from the waif like alien to Jaesa who gave him a smug grin, they would know if he was lying.

"She's dead."

"Yes I saw her, quit dead. Did you happen to see her before she died?" Rateah spoke conversationally. She could feel anger bordering on rage from him.

"I did."

Rateah picked up one of the many datapads, noted troop deployments on contested planets. Was he a member of the Star Cabal, even now? Was he trying to subvert the Empire? Her pale grey eyes caught his, he was a plain and direct man, he had always ignored her, a good Imperial, hated aliens, but still he had always left her well enough alone.

"What do you know of the Star Cabal James?"

There it was, his nostrils flared, he would have liked to shoot her, for simply calling him by his first name.

"Nothing, I don't know anything, she died before she could explain herself." He literally growled the words to her. Rateah looked over to Jaesa and arched an eyebrow.

"I sense no deception. Although." The older womans forehead creased. "He's hiding something."

"What are you hiding James?" She steadied her gave on him, she could see the veins in his neck, a large one in his forehead, his jaw muscles clenched and unclenched.

"She gave me a heavily encrypted datacube."

Rateah smiled then, a large toothy grin which only intensified his anger. "Captain, Sith Intelligence has need of that Datacube, if you would be so kind as to give it to me, and we will trouble you no longer." Rateah's voice was sweet as honey. Pierce answered her sweetness with a triumphant sneer.

"Don't have it anymore. Couldn't tell you were it is actually, so why don't you and Lord desperate be on your way."

When the two women left the estate Rateah commed Marek, with any luck he would still be at the Spaceport. Pierce was alive, barely, being tended by the estates medical droid, he would have a number of fresh electrical burns to explain to his wife when she returned. The sent the new information to Temple as she waited for Marek to answer the comm, she would start tracking little Oriah's credit trail.

"Rateah! I was just about to leave, what can I do for you?" Marek answered friendly, slightly excited, his suppressed desire for her never failed to amuse her. If he lead her to her quarry, she might have to reward him.

"Room for one more on that ship?" she questioned coyly, knowing he would not be able to resist being alone with her. As if on cue his pupils dilated and he nodded his head.

"For you always." He answered.

"Wonderful, I'll be there within the hour." Teah smiled brilliantly for him then cut the call off. To her surprise Jaesa was standing across from her looking jealous, and pouting, which was ridiculous.

"So what happens now alien? What is this Star Cabal?" The older woman had crossed her arms over her generous chest.

Teah had debated on the walk out of the estate on the garishly made up Sith's uses verses the knowledge she now had, and while sensing truths was helpful. Rateah ignited her double sided lightsaber and cut open Jaesa Willsaams gut. Jaesa immediately tried to hold her intestines in her body, with a look of utter surprise on her purple and magenta face.

"What happens now, is that you die." Reteah walked over to the woman who was slowly bleeding out, desperate to keep her major organs from escaping her body, and pushed her down the steep ravine that opened up into the wild Drummond Kaas forest. Teah hopped into the waiting speeder and disappeared into the rain.

Temple tracked Oriah Quinn's credits, the tiny blip indicated where she had been, and where she was going, although the girl had been smart enough to ditch her families money once she reached Nar Shaddaa. There was a second tracker, almost imperceptible, but it had been following Oriah as well. Temple widened the search parameters, there was a second, then a third, and finally faintest of all a fourth, all with the same tracking signature. After the new information Rateah had provided, Temple was sure these were tracking signatures for the broken black codex.

Temple fell forward, triumphant smile still plastered to her face, a deep gash severing her spin opened her back, she had died instantly. A claw that turned into a hand wiped the console of all information. Dr. Lokin looked down at his onetime comrade with an impassive expression, intelligence work required more than blind obedience; he had tried to warn her. He shrugged his shirt back on and left, he pulled out his datapad, and tapped the final death order, terminated flashed on the screen. He strode out of Sith Intelligence, as if he belonged there, despite his age, and he admitted he was getting rather old, he was rounding on his 75th birthday. The animal inside him kept him young; he glanced back down at the datapad and smiled, on to Dantooine.


	32. Chapter 32: Weather Light XS Freighter

The Weather Light was a big ship, despite his misgivings, three people should have been able to live comfortably in this ship. His mother had once lived with five others, but now that he was no longer alone, he had no idea how she did it. Already Aaron had forced him out of the Captains quarters and into one of the crew bunks, insisting Oriah have the big bed, which made no sense since she was the smallest. Aaron said something about manners and chivalry but Cohen tuned out when he started sounding like their father. So he was sharing a room with his brother like he had his entire childhood, and Aaron still snored.

The upside was Oriah, she was gorgeous, and smart and snorted when she laughed which he thought was the cutest thing ever. Problem was, again, Aaron, every time Cohen tried to find Oriah alone, he would round a corner and come face to chest his big brother. In the end Cohen would just hide out in the cockpit, working on the terminal there trying to figure out an over ride for the transmitting signal. Cohen was close, but the signal was dynamic, the frequency would change slightly at seemingly random intervals, but there was a pattern, there was always a pattern, he just had to figure it out. He was eyeballs deep in equations, his mind turning over numbers as such that he didn't hear her come in, or take up a perch next to him so that she could look over his shoulder at the console he was working at.

"It's dynamic! How brilliant!" Oriah finally said, her voice made Cohen jump, his heart in his throat.

"Don't do that!" Cohen nearly yelled.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, I just thought I might be able to help. I'm good with numbers, perhaps a second set of eyes?" She looked at him earnestly, excited.

"Yeah, sure, have at it." She slid into his chair her body leaning against his leg, Cohen smiled at the closeness, at the softness of her body, but when he looked back down at her, those blue eyes were looking at him expectantly, eye brow raised.

"Excuse me" She said, nudging his leg away.

"Right, sorry." So much for that. Oriah looked over his work for what couldn't have been more than five minutes.

"You're algorithm, is sound, but you failed to take into account the hyperspace fluctuations every third signal is travelling on. Here." Her fingers flew across the keyboard, plugging in the missing information. "Now watch." Sure enough the ship was now effectively blocking the signal.

Cohen looked from the terminal, then to Oriah like she was some kind of wizard. "Well, then, thanks Oriah."

"I didn't do much, you were the one who did most of the leg work…wait." Her eyes narrowed on the terminal. "There's another signal."

"What?" Cohen leaned over her to get a closer look at the terminal, sure enough, a second signal was getting through. "That wasn't there before." His arms reached around Oriah's form, so that he could access the keyboard, their cheeks nearly touching. "This doesn't make any sense" he murmured more to himself then to the red head his body was currently keeping captive. He ejected the data cube and spun Oriah around in the chair. He knelt in front of her holding it up for her to see.

"Does this look familiar to you?"

"It's a datacube, I've seen hundreds of them in my lifetime." Oriah was confused, she took it out of his hands and turned it over, looking at it from all angles. She gasped suddenly with recognition, not only in what Cohen was implying, but how she knew she had the missing piece of the puzzle. "A second cube."

She bounced up from her chair and raced to her newly appointed room, and then turned her bag over emptying it of its contents, Cohen was right on her heels. She snatched up the cube her step father had given her, nearly identical to Cohen's, then turned to present them both to Cohen, who wore a face of wonder.

"How did you?"

"It was a gift from my step-father. He never told me what it was, only that it was a puzzle." She frowned when she thought back to the day he gave it to her.

Cohen walked over and took both cubes from her hands, then gave her a significant look, "Could he be using it to track your movements?"

Oriah had not even thought of the possibility, "I…I don't think so, he never gave me the impression that he knew what was on it either."

"Do you trust him?"

"No."

"Then let's get to work." They left the room and started making their way back to the cockpit.

"Cohen, I think, we could even use your algorithm to reverse engineer the signal."

"And figure out where the last two cubes are…and where the signal is going." He followed her train of thought, she was brilliant, Cohen was impressed. She nodded her head excitedly at him and suddenly the spark that had driven him on this mad errand was reignited.

Aaron watched them both from the corner of his eye, Cohen was behaving, for now. He would have to poke his head into the cockpit in a little while, to make sure he continued. First things first, was getting a hold of his parents to let them know they were coming, no one had answered his last three calls, and he was getting worried. Finally his father appeared on the holoterminal, with a nasty cut on his forehead.

"Dad? Are you alright?"

Corso Riggs had an strange and unusually serious look on his face, for the first time ever Aaron thought he looked old, tired.

"I'll manage son. You on the Weather Light?"

"Yeah, Mit and me were able to talk some sense into Cohen, Mitka's still out in the field with work, but I'm here with Cohen, and a new….friend." Aaron wondered why it felt strange to refer to Oriah like that. "We're heading home to return the Weather Light to mom."

"No, don't, stay away from Dantooine, it's not safe, especially for Cohen." Corso's voice was strained worried. Aaron was more than a little shocked by his words.

"I don't understand dad, what's going on?" Corso shook his head at his sons query.

"I promise your mother and I will explain everything when we can, but now's not the time. Just stay with your brother, keep him safe alright?"

"Yeah, dad, of course, you can count on me." Aaron felt a sinking feeling of dread in his stomach.

"Good, good, I love you son." Corso sounded relived and ran a hand over his brown and grey dreads.

"I love you too dad." Then the call ended, and Aaron felt a chill in his spine, then said a silent prayer to the Force, the old gods and the new, that he would see his parents again.


	33. Chapter 33: Dantooine

Corso flicked off the holoterminal then flopped over on the couch, letting out his breath. He hadn't realized he had been holding it. Ainsley had promised him Cohen would be alright, but neither of them knew who it was that had reactivated the Cabal, it had been over twenty years since it had gone dark and the last Hunter, Ainsley's sister, had been killed. Corso wasn't about to start taking chances with his children's lives. That's what they were to him, they might have been adults now, but they would forever be his three little imps playing naked in the sprinkler on a hot summers day, no matter how many military academies they graduated from, or ships they stole, they were his babies and he would protect them with everything he had.

"Was that Aaron's voice I heard?" Ainsley wandered in, she crawled onto Corso's lap and rested her head on his chest. They were both exhausted, they had barely slept in the past week since what had happened. Ainsley was afraid she would hurt someone again, and if Corso was honest with himself, he was afraid of the same thing. Akaavi hadn't said much, only that Ainsley was her sister, and that she would be with them until the end, whatever that end was.

"It was, he's with Cohen on the Weather Light, told them to stay away until we know more." He smoothed his wife's hair, he flinched when his fingers swept against her cybernetics. Ainsley had the grace to ignore it, knowing Corso needed to process everything in his own way.

"That's good, I'm glad they're together. Any word on Mitka?"

Corso shook his head, "Only that she's working, doing some super secret classified Havoc mission. She'll be ok, she has a good team." Oh his three children Corso tended to worry about his youngest the least, not because she was adopted or different, but because she had already been through it all, and come out the other side stronger. She was smart and capable, force bless her, she was just like her mother, tough as nails, she would survive whatever could be thrown her way. He grinned to himself, at how much his views on women in general had changed since meeting Ainsley, his wife and daughter probably needed the least looking after in this family. The Riggs men on the other hand…

"Corso, you should grab some shut eye, I don't know when my contact is getting here, and I have a feeling things are going to take a turn for the chaotic when they arrive." Corso only grunted his answer, as they fell asleep together on the couch.

Akaavi woke them both, in what could have either been hours or minutes later they had slept so soundly.

"A ship just landed." She handed Ainsley her gun holster with both pistols already waiting and handed Corso his rifle. Akaavi swung her tech staff from her back into her hands and the trio went outside to meet whatever had arrived on their doorstep.

Ainsley surveyed the slick silver Phantom class ship, the gangplank lowered and a person she did not expect descended. Ainsley took a few steps forward, hands on hips, never far from her pistols.

"Wow, you got old!" Ainsley greeted the man, with a faint quirk on her lips.

"Now, now, is that anyways to greet your father?" responded with a genial smile. Ainsley approached him, guard up but slightly relieved by the familiar face, at least she knew what kind of man Lokin was, knew what to expect. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and obliged him with a light kiss on his soft wrinkled cheek. "That's better." He examined her cybernetic eye, "I trust it hasn't given you any trouble?"

"Nah, good as the day you installed it."

Lokin looked past her and noticed Akaavi and Corso. His smile remained but his eyes were disappointed.

"I believe introductions are in order, Hunter?"

"My sister was Hunter, call me Ainsley, this is Akaavi Spar, my sister in arms, and Corso Riggs, my husband." Ainsley challenged him, she hadn't realized it, but she had pulled one of her pistols on the man who was, genetically speaking, her father.

"This isn't how it's done Hunter, you know this, no loose ends." He persisted anyways.

"Ainsley" she corrected, "and I don't much care for how things are done, these are my people, and I prefer them breathing."

Lokin held her stare a moment longer, thinking, "four is better than two I suppose, especially considering our next task." He shrugged and turned away first, walking back up the gangplank. "Gather what you need Hu-, Ainsley, we leave as soon as you and your comrades are ready." Lokin thought Ainsley was a lovely name, he wondered who she had been before his daughter had killed her.


	34. Chapter 34: Corellia

Mitka and the rest of Havoc were dug in deep, she never thought she would be fighting in a museum. She spun around the corner taking down another Imp before falling back in place behind the wall. She closed her eyes briefly, taking in a deep breath. She could hear Aric barking orders, quick efficient, M1-4X, sounded like he was singing the republic anthem between mortar volleys, Elara had the entire crew on monitor, dashing to each member with a bit of Kolto or a stim calling out "Hold still!" or "I'll help you!" Her voice today felt unnervingly shrill. Tanno, laughed like a holonet villain as he crept back from setting another charge, and Yuun clicked and nattered in his strange language, she caught the words hunt and karma. Then a voice in the back of her mind, a voice she couldn't block no matter how hard she tried.

"Major, you have to come and get me! Don't leave me here! I don't want to die!" Ava Jaxo, probably the best friend Mitka had ever had, and she had ordered her death. On paper it made sense, three hundred for one. In her heart though, it still felt wrong, like she had missed something, like she had failed. She flicked her yellow eyes open again full of grit and hate and flipped out from behind her cover aiming her rifle at the heads of her enemies. Three more down. The hangar like display was littered with Imperial bodies, the ship was ringed with velvet rope. She signaled the rebel pilots to her position and to get the flying antique out of her sight.

Once she got back to command she reported mission success to Garza, giving both her CO and the rebel allies the most thinly veiled semblance of civility before stalking out of the room. She was angry, and she still wanted to punch Garza in the face for congratulating her on rescuing the POW's . She wanted to punch Aric for supporting her decision of leaving Jaxo to die, she wanted to punch Elara for not being Jaxo, and she wanted to punch Tanno for being a smug bastard. If Yuun decided to approach her and give her some of his hippy spiritual garbage, she would probably want to punch him too, but he was a smart man, and gave her space. She thought about putting a restraining bolt in 4X to shut him up, and simply thought that punching him would hurt. She had been like this for almost a solid week now, thankfully fighting on the Corellian front lines fed her rage, and Havoc had been supremely effective in their operations.

She tossed her kit on her assigned bunk while they sojourned on Corellia, grabbed a ration pack and Vik's flask and headed for the roof. She sat looking at the skyline, the fight for Corellia had been stretching on for years now, each side gaining ground then losing it. If they could take the Bastion though, the Republic would gain an unmistakable advantage, and that was exactly where they were heading in the morning. She chewed her tasteless food washing it down with Vik's sorry excuse for fine liquore, but it did the trick, filled her stomach and dulled her senses enough so that when it came time to sleep, she didn't hear Jaxo's desperate and scared voice in her head.

"You ever going to talk to me again?" Aric sat next to her, grabbing the flask and taking a drought, making a face as it went down. He was a whiskey man, and the contents of the flask was decidedly not whiskey.

"Dunno." She responded without looking him in the eye.

"Mit, you did what you had to, you can't keep beating yourself up like this." He handed her back the flask.

"Did you know that there's a Sergeant who has an almost perfect record, successful operations record, hasn't failed yet. Rusk, I think his name is. Has a list of commendations a mile long. He also has a list of dead squad mates that is even longer." She blinked hard. "I let a soldier die, and I got a pretty little medal to."

Aric didn't say anything, try as he might, he couldn't get through her anger, it consumed her. Maybe it was the Sith in her?

"Leading the Deadeyes, did you ever get a shiny medal for leaving a man behind?" She asked accusingly.

"Yeah, I did." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a medal, attached to a blue ribbon, made to be affixed to a dress uniform, it had the image of a blazing sun on it. Probably had some pompous name. "I keep it with me, to remind me of what's at stake, to remind me of my failures, and what's necessary."

Mitka reached out and touched it, "what was his name?" her tone had softened considerably.

"Her name was Katie Cannedy, she was a corporal under my command." His husky voice seemed far away, "I loved her once" His thumb rubbed the sun absently, his eyes staring blankly. "I've never forgiven myself, I've tried, but her ghost and her memory won't let me. I can't remember what she looks like, but I remember…"

"I'm sorry Aric." Mitka put her hand on his, he clenched it.

"It was a long time ago, old wounds." He pocketed the medal. "Why do you think I went after my boys the way I did? I wouldn't let them be betrayed the way Katie was."

"Promise me you won't die tomorrow. You're leading B squad, I can't make that call, not for you, so promise me you'll survive, don't put me in that position to choose the greater good or you."

Aric grabbed her face and kissed her, she started to cry as their lips mingled, and she wrapped her arms around him, wanting to hold onto this moment, not wanting to think of the morning. Mitka's lips started to quiver, which only made him kisser her harder. His fingers ran through her hair as his thumbs absently wiped away her tears. He couldn't keep the promise she was asking from him, but he would try his damndest, Force willing it would be enough. He pulled away, keeping his forehead pressed against hers.

"Babe, you know I can't, but what I can promise, is that when we're done with this Op, I'm marrying you."

"Usually a marriage proposal is in the form of a question." Mitka laughed softly through the tears.

"Yeah, well I'm not asking, I'm not letting you get away. I love you, and I'm spending the rest of my life with you, if you don't like it, then kick me out of Havoc…sir." His voice was thick and there was an underlying growl that sent shivers down her spine.

"Then we're getting married after we take the Bastion Captain." He caught her lips again, he was more urgent, more commanding and she surrendered to the man she loved, as they half blindly found a secluded and shaded corner on the roof.

Gault cut the transmission, the grabbed the binoculars from Blizzes hands. Everyone was having sex except Gault, he thought briefly of Mako, then shook his head, too skinny. He tapped into Ava's radio frequency.

"Hey Boss, I've got the Intel for you."


	35. Chapter 35: Defender class starship

The last time she opened her eyes she had been floating, looking through the thickness of the kolto, she could see him. His eyes had opened, and he had laid in the darkened room watching her as her body moved with the slight current of the liquid in the tank. Through the sweetness and the thickness of the kolto she could feel his energy pulsing, reaching out to her, he was weak, but he was not diminished. She had extended her own senses, touching him faintly, shyly with the light. Their force energies mingled lazily, neither insisting, simply assuring the other that they were there. Eventually the warmth that surrounded her pushed her back into a dreamless sleep.

When she woke again she was in her own bed. She spread her fingers over the clean linens and dared a stretch, her muscled complained but obeyed.

"Welcome back." Kira walked into the room, and poured a glass of water from a nearby carafe. Kianna sat up and accepted the water thankfully, and drank it all before speaking, first banishing the medicinal metallic taste of the rebreather and the sweetness of the kolto.

"Thank you, how long was I out for? How is he?" Kianna pulled the soft sleep warmed linens away from her skin, the ship air gave her a chill. Kira handed her a warm robe and soft leather slippers.

"Four days in the tank, and a good twenty four hours in your own bed. Scourge has been up for the last three, but has been anything but a model patient, he's locked himself in the cargo hold. Won't let Doc near him." Kira stopped, a troubled look on her face. "His emotions are back, along with the senses he lost…they're erratic, wild, it's like he can't control them, I know he's Sith, but he's everywhere."

"I can feel it too." He was there, not physically, but his essence, he was all over the ship, his anger, his pride, his shame, and passion, his unbridled power. Under it all was fear. After three hundred years of nothingness, it had all come slamming back into him, the force of it, had nearly killed him. She slipped into some loose fitting pants, and a warm tunic and headed down to the cargo bay.

Doc met her halfway down the steps, "Good you're up." He led her into the med bay, and took some scans, checking the wound sites, once satisfied she was alright, he handed her a small pill bottle.

"What's this?" Kianna inquired quizzically

"Blood pressure pills. Big red needs to take them, but he won't let me in the cargo bay. Whatever he is going through, his heart is weak, and he won't let me treat him. These will help." Doc was visibly annoyed, but all Kianna could feel was Scourge's overwhelming presence from the cargo bay. She nodded to and crossed the hallway.

Kianna slipped into the large dark room, the lights were out. She felt around the wall for the switch.

"Don't, the light, it still burns." His voice was hoarse, her eyes fought to adjust to the dark, Kianna heard him stand, the dark side permeated everything, she found it disorienting. It was pungent like too much incense had been burned.

"Foolish Jedi, it was unwise of you to come to me unarmed. I expected better from you." Kianna was acutely aware that she had left her lightsaber in her room, and she did not trust the tone in Scourges voice. She squinted her eyes and starting to see overturned crates, crystals scattered the floor, she didn't see him, but sensed him come closer. Without saber or armor she felt distinctly like prey.

"I'm not your enemy Scourge, remember that we are allies..."

"You ARE my enemy Jedi, never forget that we are enemies, but I am not a fool. I will not kill you. I have regained my senses and emotions, I have not forgotten my vision in the process." His voice was low and silken, it sounded like he was behind her and so she spun around cursing the dark.

"If you need help…"

"Do not pity me."

"I don't." she lied.

"How do you hope to help me? What can a Jedi teach a Sith about raw emotion." He had not been behind her after all, because his hand slid up her arm, he spun her around again and slammed her into the wall. Without armor on she felt everything, and she winced.

She saw his eyes first red glowing in a sea of black, slowly the contour of his face and body materialized. His hands gripped her, he would leave bruises. The look he gave her was pain, and anger.

"I know enough from fighting them, that those who use their emotions wildly and unfocused are the most easily defeated. Those that focus their emotions, convert them to power have been my most hard won fights." He lessened his grip and smiled wolfishly at her.

"You think you can defeat me?" He let go of her, stepped back and ignited his light saber. He had lost reason, his instincts and impulses ruled him.

"I have defeated you, there is no thought involved, and I will not fight you like this, not as you are." Her words were met with a vicious back hand sending her to the floor, splitting her lip.

"Fight me!" he spoke quietly, dangerously.

"No." He punched her this time. She felt her eye begin to swell almost immediately.

"Fight me!" This time it was a roar, his fear was breaking through. Kianna shook her head, he punched her again, she grunted from the impact. He watched her for a moment on the floor, and then fell to his knees, "kill me." He whispered, his terror exposing him.

"No, I will not do that." She slowly got up and walked over to his form, his face was covered by his hands. Kianna reached out and tentatively caressed his bald head, she both felt and heard him exhale. She stood before him with a hand on his head and she channeled the light, the energy was precise, focused, like a sun beam it burned away his fear, exposing it as weak.

"What are you doing?" His voice was still a whisper; he did not trust himself to speak. His darkness snaked around the light.

"Just the fear." Kianna assured him. In truth she didn't know what she was doing, only that this wild unchecked fear was overwhelming him, and that he needed it gone to refocus the rest of his power. He had done the same for her not very long ago, crushing her fear, so that she could find her focus and her power.

The smoky tendrils of the dark side wrapped around the light, two sides of the same coin, the light created darkness and darkness craved the light, she felt his strong arms go around her, and his head lean against her chest, his body mimicking his energy. When the fear was all but gone he pulled her down to him so that they were both sitting on the hard floor, she found herself surrounded by him, she sat between his legs, his arms still held her. He did not apologize, or thank her, however his brow did crease when he inspected her face, and she sensed his regret. His fingers lightly but tenderly touched her wounds, until his thumb stopped at the corner of her lips and began wiping the blood away.

"I feel like a child again, first discovering my power, it overwhelms me, demands to be answered…" His voice was quiet and husky. The blood was long gone from Kianna's lips yet his thumb continued to trace their outline. "I had forgotten, what it feels like, after so many years…"

The nerves in her lips were singing, his touch was electric, her energy had changed, no longer a focused beam, but moving, like wind, stirring up the darkness playfully. His thumb moved, gently prodding her lips open, her tongue wanted to dart out and taste him, but she held herself in check. It was too soon, and Scourge was too unstable, it would be folly to give in to desire, when not even an hour earlier he had struck her as he did. She pressed her lips against his thumb, leaving just the smallest hint of moisture. His eyes closed and he pressed his forehead onto hers, holding her tightly. She stood up, gently pulling her energy away from his, he understood, even without words he knew he was simply too volatile. He let her go without protest, until light and darkness were once again separate, she placed the pill bottle beside him, then ran a hand over his head and along his face until he looked her in the eyes.

"Take them, please. I need you to be strong again, body and mind." Her voice was quiet, rough. He nodded. Then with great reluctance she left him, sitting in the middle of the cargo bay alone.

The light in the hallways made her squint, Doc and Kira were waiting for her.

"Hey, what the? I JUST fixed you!" Doc turned and went back to the med bay to get a kolto pack for her face. "Tell me you at least got him to take his blood pressure pills?"

"I did, he'll take them."Kianna answered between winces as Doc dabbed the cool gel onto her black eye.

"Why did he hit you?" Kira asked.

"He tried to goad me into killing him. I refused." Kira could only give her a bewildered look.

"I will never understand Sith."

"Do you remember the first time you felt the force Kira? Do you remember how you felt?"

"Yeah, I was terrified, but, he's been using the Force all these years…"

"He's been using it, but he hasn't felt it, felt its source in three hundred years." Kianna stressed her words. Kira looked doubtful but nodded.

"T7 is almost done with the decryption from that data cube." She finally said, dropping the subject of Scourge.

Kianna had almost entirely forgotten about it, "Great! Thanks Kira" Kianna hopped off the palette and headed towards the engine room. On her way she reached up and touched her lips and inhaled sharply thinking of his touch.


	36. Chapter 36: Shadowtown

Shiloh lay nestled in Malavai's arms, he was still shivering, his fever burning his body, he was pale with a sheen of sweat covering him. Shiloh held on tighter, his body heat was nearly intolerable to her, but she did her best with the nothing that they had to treat him. After so many years of him looking after her, it was Shiloh's turn to look after him. There had been no visitors since the last, and as the days dragged on, and Shiloh hoped that they might at last be forgotten. Malavai grunted and moaned in his fever induced sleep, she wiped the sweat from his face with a damp rag and lifted his lips to the mug of tepid water, he drank absently.

She couldn't recall how long he had been sick, she remembered how he had collapsed, he had been tracking his daughters, Oriah had made contact with Mitka much to his delight, and neither had shot the other on sight. She had never seen such a look of pure joy on his face before, the pride he puffed himself up with, the Quinn girls they had taken to calling them. Then he had fallen from his chair, saying he was just tired, Shiloh had helped him to bed, and there he had stayed as illness ravaged his body. Some days ago he fell into a deep sleep, he had yet to wake up, no matter how hard Shiloh prayed, or willed him to open his eyes, he remained asleep, deteriorating. She starting singing to him, an old Chiss lullaby she remembered from her childhood, it seemed to calm him, even though they were sung in a language he didn't know.

The cell was flooded with light, as a great many boots filed into the room. She shielded her eyes, one of the figures lowered themselves to her, she lifted her arm up, reflex from so many years of abuse. A hand reached out, and she physically flinched from the touch. Not now, she couldn't be taken now, he needed her, she felt her stomach lurch, what if he died while she was gone.

"Shiloh, my dear, I'm not here to hurt you." She knew that voice, and squinted against the light.

"Lokin." She breathed the word, not daring to hope, had he really come?

"Yes, I'm here." His face cleared up, he had a few more wrinkles but otherwise looked the same.

"You're still alive!" She reached out and touched his face, it was real, he was real, not a hallucination, she pulled him into a hug, fighting back tears. He was real.

"Why is everyone so surprised by my state of health?" He hugged her back, Ainsley might be his biological daughter, but Shiloh was the daughter of his heart. "Come, it's time you left this place."

"Wait, you must help him." She motioned to Malavai, "He's sick, and I won't leave him."

Lokin looked at the man Shiloh had indicated, "I'll do what I can, I promise, but first." He injected her with the anesthetic. "We need to remove that pesky bomb from the base of your skull."

When she woke, she thought her hallucinations had begun again.

"Hunter?" She whispered, it had been so long, her ghosts had left her in peace for years now.

"Call me Ainsley, Hunter was my sister." Shiloh was hit with recognition, Captain Ainsley Isiz, the last time Shiloh had seen her, was the day Malavai had beaten her and left her for dead…

"Malavai?" she tried to sit up but Ainsley held her down.

"Lokin is working on him, how did you two end up here together, and not kill each other? Last time I saw the two of you together…"

"He tried to kill me, yes. Malavai was sent here for failing to kill that same child, and I was sent here because I had hid a certain something from the empire…and failed to kill a certain child." She closed her eyes, and felt the back of her head where a patch of hair had been shaved away. No loose stitches this time, but a plasma seal closed the wound. It was gone, she could almost taste freedom. Lokin came into view with a grim look on his face.

"I can cure him, it will take a week of intensive Kolto tank therapy and antibiotic treatment, but I can heal him." His voice was flat dull, emotionless.

"But, we don't have a Kolto tank ." Shiloh said, a stone in her stomach.

"No we don't."

"So, take the bomb out of his head, and we'll get him to one…" Shiloh was pleading, she looked back at Malavai's sleeping form, and for the first time in almost sixteen years she saw Vector, he was standing over him, a sad smile on his lips, her angel of death. "Get away from him! He's not dead!"

"He's too weak, if the anesthesia doesn't kill him, the surgery itself will. Shiloh, I'm sorry." Lokin spoke gently.

"No! Ekard, please! You have to try, I won't leave him here to die alone, please, I'm begging you please. They took Vector from me, don't let them take Malavai too. Please." She was begging him, like she had begged Lord Ardyth so many years before to spare the man she loved. Vector was still standing over Malavai, she pushed herself from the hard cot and covered Malavai's body with hers.

"You can't have him." She told Vector, who smiled sadly at her. "Now wake up, Mal, wake up, we're being rescued, and you need to wake up, and show them you're strong so that Lokin can remove the bomb. Please, we can be free, and you can see your girls. Wake up, please wake up." She shook his body gently, kissing his face, wiping away the tears that fell on his warm pale face.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, she looked up to see Lokin a determined look on his face. "I can try."

The next few hours were tense as they prepared Malavai Quinn for surgery, Shiloh stayed by his side, holding his hand, willing him to be strong, to survive against the odds. She brushed the soft stubble on his cheek, and tried to sing to him through the lump in her throat. Eventually the tiny bomb was deposited bloody into the metal bowl beside the cot, and Lokin started packing the wound and closing his patient back up again. He cursed under his breath and his deft hands worked quickly to save his patient as his brain started to swell beyond the confines of his skull. Malavai continued to breath, Shiloh focused only on that. Lokin took his gloves off and covered his eyes with one hand, he couldn't look at her. Shiloh kept singing to Malavai.

"He's alive she said, you got the bomb out and he's alive. We can move him now, to a kolto tank, and you can save him." She focused on the rise and fall of his back, he was alive, he could be healed.

"No Shiloh, his brain, started to swell, I can heal him physically, but he'll never wake up, he's brain dead." Lokin said gruffly.

"He's alive, he's alive….please. Mal, wake up. Just give him some time, he'll wake up." Shiloh was lying to herself, but she couldn't let go, she gripped his hand, she couldn't leave him here alone.

"Ainsley there's a patrol of guards with at least one Sith on their way to this level, we've lingered too long." Akaavi informed her Captain, but everyone heard her.

Lokin went to Shiloh's side, and began the process of prying Shiloh away from Quinn. Unlinking her fingers from his. Shiloh looked up, Vector had returned and sat beside him.

"We'll stay with him agent, we promise, he won't be alone, he would be upset if you didn't escape." The ghost urged her

"I'm sorry Mal, I'm sorry…" She let Lokin guide her away, with the rest of the group, Ainsley hung back to cover their escape.

Before leaving Ainsley planted some charges, she walked over to Quinn, and turned him over on his back. "I promised you I would take care of your daughter, and I did, I still do, I'll look after her too. Ok? I'll look after her too." She gave Quinn a quick kiss before shooting him in the head, so that he wouldn't die alone in this place.


	37. Chapter 37: Corellia

Avacynne surveyed the scene below her, her target was leading a full platoon of what looked to be four squads. She waited until they had finished clearing the Imperial soldiers. There were casualties on both sides although the Republic special forces coupled the element of surprise seemed to have the advantage for now. They were mostly infantry, with one large battle droid who seemed to enjoy singing the Republic's anthem.

"Mako, can you take him offline, I don't want to deal with his mortar volley's." Avaa turned to her best friend and slicer. Her eyes went blank for a moment as she used her implant, when she refocused she smiled broadly at her. Just as the Droid suddenly fell silent. She turned to the rest of her crew.

"Target lives." She looked at the large Houk in her midst, "Do you understand Skadge? The Cathar holding the big assault cannon lives."

"Yeah boss, the cat lives." Skadge snarled at her.

"Gault, you find your blind?" She spoke into her radio.

"I have a clear view of everything boss, I'll keep your back clear."

"Mako, I need you to make sure that droid doesn't over ride whatever it is you did to it, so hang back toss out the kolto and keep the droid asleep. Torian, Blizz, Skadge, you're with me." Torian nodded and slipped his helmet on, Skadge grunted, Blizz somehow managed to lift his own assault cannon over his head with a hearty "Houtini!"

Ava removed her visor and put on her own helmet, charging her jump pack and loading her mini missiles for an opening move she lovingly called death from above. "Let's earn our pay."

With that she was propelled into the air and let her missiles fly, quickly reducing the remaining Republic soldiers to more manageable numbers. Her target though caught by surprise was quick to recover as her swept his gun towards Skadge and Torian keeping them from closing into melee range. Blizz and Ava swept in to flank him, Gault sniped the soldiers who went to his aid. Ava had asked her crew to keep it as non-lethal as they could, less casualties meant her targets would be more receptive to negotiation. Negotiation was key when it came to bringing in live bounties.

Soldiers from the Republic's Special Forces fought fiercely but they were restricted by their equipment and what the Republic considered standard issue. They fell one by one, to a missile or blaster shot, until Ava was all but behind the Cathar in question. She kicked out his knee and pointed her twin barrels at his head.

"Surrender, you're beat." Both she and her target were breathing heavy, she couldn't fight the smile under her helmet, it had been a good fight, hard won and glorious, now came the hard part.

"No." He stubbornly replied.

"I don't want to kill your men Captain, have them stand down and most will be able to walk away with their life." She raised her voice, her crew stopped shooting holding their positions, all but one. "I said CEASE FIRE!" Skadge skewered then decapitated the soldier anyways with an ugly wild grin fueled by blood lust. Her target growled behind his helmet, and gripped his auto cannon, ready to go down fighting.

Ava saw red as she pulled off her helmet and replaced her visor, the rush of victory quickly dissipating as her rabid dog paid her no mind, sullying her honor with his disobedience.

"SKADGE" She yelled, before he could harm the soldier, the Houk looked up still grinning wildly, as Ava aimed a missile at his face, he snarled letting go of the soldier. She released the missile as he started charging for her, his face exploded in a rain of blood and skull and grey matter. His body fell flailing random nerves twitching his fingers while the rest of his body realized it was dead. She turned her attention back to her target.

"I'm sorry, I'll ask again, lay down your weapons, the rest of your men will not be harmed." She watched as he slowly released his weapon and unhooked his helmet and lifted his arms, linking his fingers behind his head. He glared at her with impossibly green eyes.

"What do you want?" his voice was a deep baritone, with an underlying growl.

"Just you Captain." At that she gave her crew the signal and they sprayed the surviving soldiers with a carbonite composite, it would freeze them for only a matter of minutes but still give them hibernation sickness rendering them blind, thus covering Ava and her crews escape.

"Let's get out of here." They led their prisoner away in cuffs, and headed for the ship.


	38. Chapter 38: Corellia - the Bastion

Rakton was dead, choosing to go down fighting, the Republic had won the day. Mitka looked back to were Rakton had fallen, his blood still on a duracrete of the war room. She looked away as teams checked in, C squad, the safe crackers, Dagger wing, all with successful mission reports. Slowly Havoc regrouped, having each lead separate attacks on different objectives checked in. Yuun and Vik were the first to meet with her, Dorne took her leave as she guided the field medics and organized a triage for the wounded. Eventually everyone had checked in, all except 4X and Jorgan who had lead B squad. They had obviously taken their objective or else Mitka wouldn't have been able to reach Rakton, but their silence was worrisome. Feeds started coming in from all over Corellia, apparently a Jedi had managed to kill Darth Decimus, coupled with her success at the Bastion, the Republic was declaring a tentative victory. Mitka wished she could be pleased, but her face wore a worried scowl, where was Jorgan?

"Major, we found B squad." Elara walked up to her giving a crisp salute.

"Report Lieutenant." Mitka felt a wave of nausea, if Jorgan had been able to report himself, he would have.

"They are recovering from hibernation sickness, most are still blind. M1-4X is just now coming back online, he had been sliced into." She stopped, and swallowed, Mitka braced herself for the news. "Captain Jorgan is MIA" Mitka blinked, processing, he wasn't dead.

"We've routed the Imps and taken our own POW's, we've also freed our own captives, Jorgan wasn't with them…"

"Yes sir, the soldiers in B squad told us they were ambushed after taking the objective. It wasn't the Imperials." Elara shook her head.

Mitka felt her anger rising along with her confusion. "Lieutenant, I need you to start making sense, now, what do you mean it wasn't the Imperials?"

"It was a Bounty Hunter, sir." Elara saw her CO's yellow eyes flash, "This is Private Jetta, he can recount what happened prior to being frozen in carbonite."

A human of medium build, with light brown hair and blood shot brown eyes walked in, he was blinking hard and involuntary tears kept streaming from his face. Dorne gave him a compress for his eyes, he gave a respectful salute.

"At ease private, Lieutenant Dorne tells me you were ambushed by non-partisans, what happened?"Trying to soften her voice, he was young and obviously in pain, hibernation sickness was no joke, and regaining sight was a painful process.

"Sir, thank you sir," He pressed the compress to his eyes, and began his recount of the events that happened to B squad. Mitka nodded and tried to keep her face neutral, despite the fear and anger she was feeling. It felt like a bad dream. He ended his story with how they were sprayed with a carbonite spray rendering them all blind, effectively hiding the Bounty Hunter's escape.

"Private Jetta, is this a bad joke? You mean to tell me, two Mandalorian's, a Houk, a cyborge, a Devoronian, and a Jawa…a JAWA, with an assault cannon no less, ambushed you, and kidnapped your CO?" Mitka was trying really hard to keep her calm, but the story was fantastical, ridiculous even, a Jawa?

"Sir, it's not a joke, I know what I saw, their leader, when she took off her helmet, she's a Miraluka sir, she shot the Houk in the face, the body is still there." His voice shook under Mitks'a hard gaze.

"Yuun, I need you to figure out what it would take to interface and effectively slice into 4X, that can't be easy, I want a short list of slicers in front of me in twenty four hours. Vik, get on the holo with your "friends" Miraluka Bounty Hunter, who is she, everything you can find, including any kind of Bounty on Jorgan, you have full access to the discretionary funds. Dorne, I want Balkar and Garza in a conference call in ten minutes."

"Yes sir." The three saluted but before they could get to their tasks, the holo flicked to life with the hunter in question.

"Major Riggs, I'd like to congratulate you on your victory, I'd also like you to know that I have your fiancé..." Mitka was taken aback, she hadn't told anyone about Jorgan's rooftop proposal, she flashed a look at Dorne.

"It's pre-recorded sir." She confirmed.

"Yuun, track it." The Gand nodded and got to work on a console tracing where the message originated from.

"…Captain Jorgan has not been harmed, and will not be harmed so long as you co-operate." The message flashed to an image of Jorgan, in the under shirt and pants he wears under his armor, in a holding cell pacing with a fierce scowl on his handsome face. "If you wish to see him alive again, you will come to these co-ordinates in three days, alone and unarmed, we will be monitoring SIS and Military frequencies, if I think you're planning something, I will kill him. I'm a woman of my word Major, please don't test me." The message blinked out.

"Yuun?" The Gand shook his head.

"The slice was heavily encrypted and lead to proxy stations across the galaxy, the slicer is a master at his craft." Mitka nodded grimly, which meant they very well could monitor the SIS and military frequencies.

"Vik, you still have an assignment, be discreet, include my name in the list of bounties. Yuun, you have two examples of this slicers work, I still want a list of possible names on my desk tomorrow. Dismissed."

She leaned against the holoterminal in the war room heavily, waiting for her team to leave before allowing her tears to fall. Dorne hung around.

"Lieutenant, I said dismissed." She was in no mood for regulations right now.

"I know sir, forgive me. You and Jorgan got engaged? If I might ask, when?" Her voice wasn't full of pomp and arrogance, it was quiet and sympathetic.

"Last night." She felt the lump in her throat as she remembered the quiet moment on the roof, she covered her eyes with her thumb and fore finger willing away the tears that threatened.

"Congratulations sir." She put a conforting hand on Mitka's shoulder. Mitka laughed a bitter angry laugh.

"Don't feed me a line Dorne, you've been very clear about your feelings regarding me and Aric's relationship from the start."

"I was engaged once, to my superior officer, he died for refusing an impossible order, choked to death by a Sith. Jorgan's not dead, but please know that I can commiserate, that I do care. I am your friend, even if you don't believe it." Elara squeezed Mitka's shoulder, then left.

Mitka blinked her eyes until blinking could no longer hold back the flood. When she finished crying she called her brother.


	39. Chapter 39: Weather Light XS Freighter

Aaron hung his punching bag in the cargo hold, the old weathered leather was supple and soft after years of abuse. He started taping his fingers winding it through and around his fingers and knuckles, he flexed his hands then made two tight fists, satisfied. He pulled his shirt off revealing a heavy and well muscled chest and large broad shoulders, he started drills.

Left, right, left.

He replayed the holocall from Mitka in his mind.

Right, left, right.

He still hadn't heard a word from his parents.

Left, left, right.

Then there was his brother. Cohen had been nothing but friendly to Oriah, but everytime he made her laugh Aaron felt a pang in his gut.

Right, right, left.

He was jealous, and it was stupid, she was still a kid, a girl, he was too old for her, but she had this way of smiling at him that made his heart do flips.

Left, knee, kick, left.

She was an early riser, and she had got into the habit of joining him for breakfast, making him coffee. Oriah made it better then he could, and he looked forward to those early mornings where she would speak softly to him. Those blue eyes would wander into his heart, and her smile lit up his world, and in those quiet mornings, he felt as though they had a connection. Then Cohen would wake up.

Right, kick, left, knee.

Then the moment would be broken, Oriah would look up at his little brother with what looked like adoration, excited to tackle their puzzle and the two of them would bound off to the bridge, leaving him alone.

Right, right, right, left.

He shouldn't be mooning over this girl anyways, it was a stupid crush. He hit the bag harder, freestyling, breaking up his rotation, hitting it in short powerful jabs. He started grunting with the exertion, could feel the sweat on his face and back. If he hit the bag hard enough he stopped seeing Oriah's face, he stopped hating his brother, he stopped worrying about his parents, he stopped hearing Mitka cry in his ears. His muscles started to ache and he just pushed himself harder, clearing his head. In this moment Aaron was instinct and movement, the world fell away and he was alone with his fists and the heavy leather bag. He slowly started dancing around the bag, offering long arching kicks between punches, he would dance in close with his elbows and upper cuts and knees. Arms up in a defensive stance, he would swing them in a wide arch hitting the bag with a hook, then a jab. Time stood still and the bag accepted his frustration, and anger without protest, rocking from the ceiling, the chains jingled gently. A flash of red, and a face caught his eye, he stopped where he was breathing heavily. Oriah was leaning against the doorway with a crooked and appraising grin on her face.

"I'm sorry for interrupting. Don't let me stop you." Oriah walked into the room and perched herself on an empty storage crate. Aaron suddenly felt awkward, the chains hooking the bag to the ceiling were too loud in the silence, and he reached out and stopped the swinging.

"You and Co, figure out the puzzle of the cubes?" He stood with the bag between him and Oriah, suddenly aware of his bare chest, and sweat.

"We've hit a wall, we're taking a break. He also wanted to check over his weapons for when we meet up with Mitka. The puzzle can wait for now." She spied Aarons open bag, and her eyes lit up. Oriah jumped down and grabbed the boxing gloved, and target mits. She strode over to Aaron, stuck one glve between her legs and opened the other waiting for Aaron's hand. He gave her a questioning look but complied. She laced him up expertly, and he wondered when Oriah learned about boxing. She put his other glove on, then slipped the target mitts over her own long slender hands. "Come on then, let's see how you do with a moving target."

"I…I don't want to hurt you." Aaron flexed his hands inside the large leather boxing gloves, bringing them into a lazy defensive stance.

"You won't, I grew up doing this kind of thing with my step-father, who's about your size. He taught me how to absorb a punch, and how to throw one. He's former Imperial black ops, he was a good teacher. I can handle myself." With that she gave an easy swipe which Aaron ducked under.

"Yeah, well my dad taught me not to hit girls." He landed a gentle punch on her left hand.

"Seriously Aaron? Is that the best you've got?" She swung at him faster, this time catching him under the jaw.

"Hey, that hurt." He said in a faux hurt voice, it earned him a laugh and a smile. He grinned wickedly at her.

True to her word, Oriah held her own, directing his attacks and defenses with the target mitts, she kept him at a quick pace, catching him off guard more than once. They remained in relative comfortable silence, though every time she winked at him he would falter.

"That's cheating." He finally said, rubbing his jaw.

"What's cheating?" She smiled at him sweetly, and Aaron got the distinct feeling she was flirting with him.

"You know…when you…wink." Aaron could feel his ears burning. Oriah bit her lower lip, her eyes were all mischief, and she stepped towards him.

"Since when is winking against the rules?" She pulled the target mitts off, then grabbed one of his gloved hands, and slowly started unlacing them.

"Ever since my brother turns to mush whenever a pretty girl smiles at him, throws off his whole game, and you, Oriah, are a very pretty girl." Cohen's voice carried from the doorway. His tone was teasing, but there was an angry glint in his eye directed at his older brother. Oriah blushed. "I think I might have a solution to our little problem. Why don't you come to the bridge and take a look?"

"Did you account for the gravitational resonance of that dwarf star?" she trotted out of the cargo bay.

Cohen nodded at her, waited until she was out of the room, before giving his brother one last challenging look, then turned to leave. Aaron was left standing in the middle of the cargo bay wondering what the force happened. He was more frustrated now then he was when he started, a cold shower would have to do then. As he untapped his hands, he couldn't help but smile, maybe she did like him.


	40. Chapter 40: D5-Mantis

"Anything Mako?" Avacynne asked her slicer.

"Nothing, his name was put on the list of soldiers who went MIA, but nothing otherwise. She's been quiet. At least on the official lines." Mako assured her. "We're looking good boss!"

Avacynne nodded, if everything was good why did she have that feeling in her gut. In her experience the big jobs never went to plan. She grabbed a ration bar and a bottle of water then headed for the holding pen. Jorgan and Torian were having, what Avacynne could only imagine, was a scowling contest. Torian lost when he looked up to her, coming down the stairs. She lowered the energy shield that was keeping their captive confined and handed him the food and water. He eyed it suspiciously.

"Would you take it! If I wanted you dead, you would be. Now take it and eat." She tossed them at his feet and the Cathar grudgingly ate them.

"Torian, I want to talk to him, alone." She spoke to her lover in Mando'a, she made no mistakes today.

"Watch his claws." He responded and left her and the Cathar alone. She looked to her captives hands, his "claws" looked no different than hers.

Ava pulled two chairs and the table the crew used to play Pazaak with closer to the still inactive containment unit. "Have a seat." They were metal and uncomfortable, but they were better than the metal floor.

"I'd rather stand." Jorgan growled at her.

"Fine." She sat. "Will she come?"

"Yeah, she'll come." He gave her a wicked grin. "Dumbest bounty you could have taken is hers, she'll kill you."

"What, good Republic soldier won't just turn me in?" She kept her face neutral, her voice confident and slightly mocking. Only it was Jorgan who laughed.

"You grabbed one of her people, she's not overly forgiving when the people she cares about are threatened. Have you seen her skin? What she is? She might not be Sith, but make no mistake, there is fire in her blood, and she will kill you." His low baritone hissed the threat at her, and she knew every word he spoke was truth. "Have some free advice Mandalorian." He spit the word, bitter on his tongue, "Drop me on the nearest mudball and run."

"Can't do that." Although it was tempting, this job had left her uneasy right from the start.

He sat down in front of her, "Who hired you? I heard your message to the Major, she took out Rakton, she's a military target, but the man who would have targeted her is dead. Unless this is personal? Girl went from a ranch on Dantooine, to the military Acadamy straight into Havoc, it doesn't make any sense for you to be hunting her." His voice took on a thoughtful tenor.

"I wouldn't be much of a hunter if I started mouthing off about my employers." Ava's bad feeling got worse. She suddenly felt the need to check something. Something important, "Torian" His head popped over the railing, "Watch him." She felt Jorgans green eyes on her as she bounded up the stairs, she could feel his smug grin.

She pushed Mako aside and pulled up the two images she needed, and then she just stared at them. On one side was Lord Ardyth, on the other Major Riggs. They could have been twins, except Ardyth was older, much older, mother and daughter. She thought back to that little boy on Hutta, the one that had been sent to Korriban because of her, the one who had lost his father because of her. She thought back to Drummond Kaas, killing that little Sith girl, on her father's orders, because she was at the wrong place, with the wrong people, at the wrong time. She remembered how Teah had been snatched up by that Sith on a whim, tearing them apart.

"Ava? Oh wow! You think they're related?" Mako asked stupidly.

"Change of plans, get the crew." She headed back to the Cathar. "Everyone meeting now." She bellowed as she made her way down the stairs. Torian and Jorgan were scowling each other down again.

"It's her mother. The Sith who hired me, is your Major's mother. Her name is Lord Ardyth Eldrazzi, or Darth Kozilek, she's the Emperor's Wrath, which means she's a big player in the Empire." Ava ignored the sharp intake of breaths and disbelief from her crew, she held up a hand to silence them. "Mako pull up those images, show him."

"Ava what are you doing?" Mako asked in a quiet voice, given the look Avacynne flashed her she complied.

"Why are you telling me this?"Jorgan studied the faces, taken aback by the similarity between Mitka and her biological mother.

"Because I'm done sacrificing kids to the Sith." She said evenly.

"Cyare, there's no honor is going back on a contract." Torian had switched to Mando'a his voice was level but heated.

"There is no honor with the Sith! She tried to kill us when I asked for payment, do you think she will keep her word? Do you think she will not try to kill us when we deliver her daughter?" She shot back, Ava didn't stumble on a single word. "There is more honor in our captive and our target's fingers, then in the Sith who hired us. I will not be the one to sacrifice good warriors to the whims of a Sith."

"Basic you two, Ava talk to me, what's your angle here?" Gault interrupted the two Mandalorians.

She rounded on Gault who was flanked by Blizz and Mako. "Way I figure it, someone like Darth Kozilek, Emperor's Wrath, would be a big target for the Jedi and the Republic. Worth a lot of credits, joint venture with their most elite spec ops squad, we could actually take her down." She looked from her crew to Jorgan, who was listening intently.

"You got a point, but right now we're guaranteed another five mill for the Major. The Republic likes doing things like this "because it's the right thing" we have no guarantee we'll get paid." Gault was shrewd when it came to credits, amoral, but he was right, and it was a risk.

"Yeah, since when do Sith keep up their end of the bargain? You already know what happened when I asked for my deposit on this job, bitch tried to kill me. They aren't good business partners. We already have five mill. I say go after bigger game." Ava was getting impatient.

"I'm with Boss, Blizz likes big cat man! Sith are mean." Blizz tried to pet Jorgan, but a quick look from the serious Cathar warned him away, the Jawa settled on standing happily but awkwardly with his hands on his hips beside him.

"Are you sure Ava? I mean, we took down a whole platoon…"Mako wasn't convinced, and she still had a chip on her shoulder regarding the Republic, Ava didn't blame her, but she wasn't about to sacrifice everyone because Mako had a personal problem with the SIS.

"We got lucky Mako, and this isn't up for discussion, if you want out, now's the time to say so." She stared down her closest friends with her eyeless glare, challenging them to tell her she was wrong. A part of her wished they would all walk away so that they would at least be safe, either from Havoc squad or Lord Ardyth, but the choice was up to them.

"Lead on Cyare" Torian gave Jorgan a doubtful scowl but backed his wife.

"Ah what the hell, what's life without a bit of excitement?" Gault threw his hands up, both plans had merit, he figured he could probably fleece more from Republic soldiers then a Sith anyways.

"Fine." Mako wasn't happy, she never liked it when a plan deviated, she especially didn't like it when it had been her plan to begin with. She knew Ava hadn't wanted to work with Sith, and she felt guilty for pressuring her into the deal in the first place. One thing's for sure, she wasn't about to abandon her best friend now.

"Alright, Jorgan I think you and I have a few holo calls to make. We'll meet with your people at the same coordinates, it's a secure location, no weapons." Ava

The group broke off, most heading up to the holo terminal, Blizz scampered back to his mountains of stuff, and got back to work on a new targeting array for his cannon. Something was blinking on his console, he looked around his chaos scratching his head. He burrowed into the mess, nearly disappearing completely in the mounds of plasteel, durasteel, wires and other vaguly recognizable bits of tech and machinery. He finally emerged, his bright golden eyes stared at the dark cube curiously, he tapped it, then tasted it, then looked back at his console that was still blipping, only faster now. He had no idea where he had found the puzzle box, but was delighted at the new challenge, new games were the best. He'd break it open in no time.


	41. Chapter 41: The Star Chamber

Shiloh walked beside Lokin. Ainsley, as she preferred to be called, followed behind with her two companions, whom Shiloh learned were Akaavi Spar, a Mandalorian, and Corso Riggs, a mercenary, and Ainsley's husband. They wound through the halls of the forgotten Cabal's primary headquarters, Shiloh recognized the halls, heard Hunter's voice echo from a long forgotten battle. They eventually entered a command center of sorts, and there just as Shiloh had ordered her, stood Scorpio's droid avatar interfacing with the console. Beside her stood Malavai's ghost, hard at work, ready to aid her in whatever way he could. She closed her eyes, trying to focus on the real, on the here and now, but this place was a shrine to her past, and her ghosts roamed the halls, all giving her secret smiles.

"Hello agent." Scorpio's disembodied voice came from all around them.

"Hello Scorpio, I trust you are well?" She had not been happy to leave the throngs of the populace, she argued she could not evolve with the task Shiloh had given her. Ultimately she complied when Shiloh agreed to remove the restraining bolt, and gave her access to the entirety of the Star Cabal's mainframe once again.

"I have evolved in the years of your absence, I have fully integrated myself into the entirety of the space station. I also no longer wish, nor need to kill you, you have given me power and freedom, for this I thank you agent." The low female voice said.

"Please Scorpio, just Shiloh, I have not been an agent in over twenty years." Shiloh walked over to the console Quinn was working at, he moved over to let her by.

"You have evolved as well I see, though your body has aged, you have become weaker, scarred." The disembodied voice, was calculating, yet soothing. She finally moved back into the Droid body, the eyes lit up and cocked her head at Shiloh.

"Yes, the downside to being mortal, we age. Lokins told me the cubes have all been found and are on the move? How did we get here? I thought they had been set to start tracking after a hundred years, it's only been twenty five. What happened? " She looked around the room at the group assembled before her, both real and incorporeal. A large holo of the galaxy filled the room with a small handful of blinking lights.

"Kaliyo happened." Lokin said grimly. How the Rattataki came to know was a mystery, she had her ways, and had been cunning and difficult to find and eliminate. She had known about the black codex, urged Shiloh to sell the information or become an information broker. Shiloh had refused, and refused to give away the location, the longtime partners and one time friends had parted on less then amicable terms. In the end both women had stayed true to who they were Shiloh, and her convictions and sense of truth, and unscrupulous Kaliyo. Oil and water simply don't mix, regardless of the emulsion; they will always separate if left still for long enough.

Shiloh gave him a look asking a silent question, Lokin only shook his head, and before her eyes Kaliyo appeared leaning on Vector. Her hands felt sticky, and when she looked down they were stained with blood, a blink later they were clean again.

"She recruited my son Cohen, he's currently on my freighter with my other son and another passenger." Ainsley added highlighting one of the blinking spots on the galaxy map.

"Her name's Oriah Quinn" Corso added, albeit shyly, he felt out of place, this business far over his head. Malavai's ghost perked up at the name.

"There are also two beacons that had been coming from the freighter's location, both beacons have been silenced, I have continued to track the freighter's signature none the less." Scorpio interjected. "It would by logical to assume the second beacon is thanks to this Oriah Quinn, it has moved with her since her departure from Drummond Kaas."

An image of a young woman with bright blue eyes and full red hair filled her screen.

"Oriah Quinn, second child to Lord Ardyth Eldrazzi the Emperor's Wrath and Major Malavai Quinn, deceased. One sibling, Marek Eldrazzi, granddaughter to Lord Kaervrek Eldrazzi, Head of Sith Intelligence Operations. Step-daughter to Captain James Arenson Pierce II" Shiloh lifted her hand to stop Scorpio, she knew what she needed. She knew this family all too well, they had single handedly shaped and destroyed her life.

"She has a second sibling Scorpio. Major Mitka Riggs Republic Army." Shiloh said quietly, dismissing the image of Malavai's daughter.

"I shall update my records."

Shiloh looked over to Ainsley and Corso who had come to stand beside his wife, their little fingers linked. She felt a pang in her heart, and looked passed Vector and Malavai who watched her intently.

"What's become of the Hoth cube?" She moved on, Scorpio highlighted a second blinked light on the map, located in Hutt Space.

"Current trajectory Nal Hutta, no further information."

Shiloh tapped the final blinking light, also in Hutt space. The Belsavis cube, the coordinates she had left with her sister. Kianna had clearly retrieved it, she asked Scorpio to pull up the security footage of Mega Security Ward 23. The group watched in silence as the young Chiss Jedi fought one of the ancient beasts of Belsavis, how broken she dragged her Sith companion to safety. Shiloh brought a hand up to cover her mouth as she watched her baby sister fight, her heart in her throat. Gone was the seven year old child she had known so briefly, gone was the sweet girl from their years of correspondence. She was a Jedi and a powerful one at that. When she saw that she left with her allies broken but alive, Shiloh finally exhaled. Working with a Sith, this could bode well.

"Trajectory?" Shiloh's voice was just above a whisper

"Voss"

"A Jedi?" Ainsley asked incredulously. "Since when does the Star Cabal work with Jedi, or Sith for that matter?"

"She's my sister, and no one who knows anything of the Star Cabal, would have thought to seek out Tython for a clue." She turned then to face her fellows, "Jedi and Sith are not the enemy, the Jedi and Sith council are. It is the dogma of each organization that oppresses not only Force blinds, but Force users alike. Light using Sith are persecuted as are Jedi who choose to follow emotion, marry, live outside the code, there is no middle ground, there is no grey. The Jedi and Sith councils inability to bend and compromise, accept that force users are more than the Force, but sentient flawed beings as we all are. My vision, my reason for doing this, is not only to give Force blinds more autonomy, but to give Force users a choice. Life is not Light and Dark, there is middle ground, and neither Jedi, nor Sith should be forced to live by the standards of these archaic religions by virtue of birth. As such, like minded Jedi and Sith, will for the first time since its inception, be welcomed into the Star Cabal. To infiltrate and effect change from within."

"I can see why Hunter liked you so much, you are my commander, and I am your Hunter." Ainsley smiled as she spoke the ancient words of so many Hunters before her.

Lokin gave her an approving nod, as did Akaavi and Corso, who seemed relieved, happy that he would be doing good work, fighting for a worthy cause.

Shiloh gave them all a small smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Make no mistake, there are powers at work in all levels of government on both sides that would take the information and secrets within those cubes and use them to further their own agendas. Sith Intelligence and the SIS each have agents looking to undo us, as they always have, as I once did. Ainsley, contact your ship and your sons, bring them here with the cubes. Corso, if you like you can stay here to meet them, or go with Ainsley and Akaavi to retrieve the Hoth cube. I leave it to you to ascertain if the person or persons who carry it are Cabal material, if they are not…"

"No loose ends." Ainsley replied seriously.

"Lokin I leave you with Scorpio to track us and provide intel. I go to Voss." She wondered if Phi-ton was still alive, perhaps her only true and legitimate husband escaped Vector and Malavai's fate.


	42. Chapter 42: Drummond Kaas

It was late when Ardyth returned to her estate; she was unsurprised to see Pierce awake when she returned. He was a night owl, but tonight was different, he was sitting in the great room on the couch, shirtless watching Hutt ball, a beer in his hand. His barrel shaped chest and hands were wrapped in gauze. His face bore a new scare. She watched him impassively from the doorway.

"What happened?" She finally asked, curious as to the cause of her husband's injuries.

"Your father's Rattataki, and Jeasa, interrogated me." He finished his beer and threw the empty bottle on the floor with the rest.

Ardyth raised an eyebrow, it was bold of Rateah, and to bring Jaesa meant she suspected Pierce might have lied about something. "What was it she was after?"

Pierce considered her, he hadn't shared any of his past with his wife, and up until then it had worked for them, but now. "My parents were traitors to the empire. They had plotted and my father killed a Sith Lord. Apparently they were part of some secret anti Sith society. A few months back I get a message from my mum. She's dying, wants to see me, reconcile. She gave me a data cube. I didn't like the smell of it, dangerous business, bad enough I'm the son of a traitor, don't need treason following me home. I gave the cube to Oriah before she left."

Ardyth considered what he said, "Your parents were part of the Star Cabal?"

"That's what my mother said. How did you know?"

"It's been my father's obsession for the last twenty five years. Why did they torture you? Did you try to lie?" Ardyth knew she would normally be livid with anger, hungry for retribution against those who would dare come into her home and harm her husband. Pierce knew it to, he eyed her with confusion.

"No Ardyth, I didn't lie. Jaesa didn't appreciate the pet name I gave her, let me know it. The two of them left me in a smoking heap on the floor when they left." He reached out and took her hand, turned her face to him trying to search the familiar face, something was wrong.

"So you didn't kill her, curious. Her half eaten body was being pulled out of the ravine when I returned." She stood up, letting his hand fall away from her. She looked him over with a critical eye, "will you be well enough to fight? The Emperor has tasked me with something of great importance, I would have liked you by my side in the fight to come…but if you're not well I can recall Broonmark from Ilum."

Pierces eyes narrowed, "I'll be fine. Ardyth, what's happened to you? You're not yourself." He stood up, grasping her face in his hands, it was as if she was there, but missing. Her eyes took on an almost fanatical gleam.

"The Emperor has seen fit to bless me, he has given me a great gift. I am immortal, I have more power than I have ever known. Isn't it wonderful?" Ardyth gave her husband a wide smile, though her eyes remained empty save for a faintly crazed look.

Pierce continued looking down at her, into the golden yellow eyes he loved so much, he kissed her, her familiar lips molded to his own, he opened them with his tongue, tasting her familiar taste. When the kiss ended, she didn't bite her lower lip like she always did she looked at him as if calculating, the dark passion that fueled them was absent.

"The Emperor's gifts are always double edged." He said gruffly, quietly. He was afraid, though he didn't admit it to himself.

"They are." She traced his lips with her finger, "I no longer feel emotion, I no longer have my senses. There is no taste, or scent or colour, I remember loving you, but, I can no longer feel it. I feel only the energy of the dark side, not what fuels it. A small sacrifice for the gift I have been bestowed. The Emperor is good."

Pierce could only stare, frozen in place. It was as if everything he had loved about her had been drained away. "You can't feel this?" He kissed her again, passionately, willing her back into his arms. She didn't return.

"No. I realize you are a man, with appetites, if it would please you, I can still make my body available to you, or if you like, you may buy yourself a slave, it doesn't matter…I do however still require your loyalty. Can I still count on you Pierce?" Ardyth replied to his kiss, she did miss his scent, she had to admit to herself.

Pierce tried to keep the horror from his face, use her body, how could he take pleasure from an empty husk, and yet, he loved her, the idea of a slave repulsed him. "My Lord, you can always count on me."

She nodded to him, and left him standing in the dark room alone. Pierce eventually followed her to their bedroom, numb.


	43. Chapter 43: Fury class starship

"Get her back!" Lord Kaervrek bellowed over the holo, "She hold the secrets, get her back!" The call clicked to an end. Rateah rubbed the bridge of her nose, the Watchers had managed to reconstruct the wiped information from the Late Agent Temple's console, but the intel was now weeks old. Her patience was running thin, and Teah desperately wanted to maim something.

Marek's trail at least was still warm, through bribery and lightning they had managed to get the freighters ID number Oriah had boarded and they were currently tracking it. It being a known smugglers ship, the ID would only be good for so long before it was switched to something else, time was short. She wandered into the med bay, where Marek was staring by Malavai Quinn's body.

"Tell me again why we brought this corpse with us?" Marek had been taken by a moment of sentimentality at the sight of his dead father.

"He's my father." Marek answered.

"I thought you hated him, shoot him out the airlock and be done with it." His melancholy mood was grating.

"No, he's going back to Drummond Kaas, to the Quinn family plot." He almost affectionately flattened his father's hair.

"We're not going to Drummond Kaas, we are following your sister until I get more Intel on Shiloh Chint'aro's location. So either dispose of this refuse, or I will." Rateah scolded him like a little boy, he was nearly twenty two years old, the heir to a powerful Sith, and he was acting like a child.

His hand struck her face sending her reeling, she tasted blood in her mouth, and finally she sensed anger and rage from her companion instead of morose melancholy. She smiled wickedly at him, blood staining her normally white teeth.

"He was taken from me, from my mother, he died without our leave, you said yourself he was killed out of mercy, MERCY! He was mine to kill! He was my mother's to torture…He was my father!" Marek screamed at the fool alien at his feet, who only started laughing at him. His emotions were a mess, he felt, anger and regret. His father would always be there and now he wasn't, he felt something in his world shift at the thought of Malavai Quinn being dead, and it upset him. He didn't know how to explain it to her, especially when he himself didn't know what he was feeling. He did want her to stop talking.

"You're angry because he died before you got a chance to kill him? Marek, do you hear yourself? It's absured." Marek hit her again, and then lifted her by the neck, she continued to laugh in his face, infuriating him.

Suddenly he remembered all the coy flirts, condescending jabs, he squeezed harder until the laughter stopped. She made him feel weak, stupid, and young. He was tired of longing for her, he was tired of being toyed with, of being teased by her, he was her better, and she would obey him. He held her against the wall, her milk white skin slowly going red, he could see the blood vessels in her pale grey eyes start to break, staining them. She didn't struggle against him, he could break her neck or choke the life from her, but she still didn't fear him. Her bulging eye continued to challenge, daring him to kill her, knowing he wouldn't, and he hated that she was right, about everything. He released her, and she at least had the decency to crumple on the floor coughing, and gasping for breath. He looked back at his father's body, felt a pang of guilt, or love, or something.

"I'll dispose of the body." He looked down at the object of his obsession, and offered her a hand. She batted it away, and he had to suppress the urge to hurt her again. He wanted her, he wanted to possess her, but he wanted her to want him to. "I'm sorry Rateah, I didn't mean to…"

"Yes you did, don't lie." Her normally musical voice made hoarse and rough. She looked up at him, her eyes bloodshot, her pale face bruised. Marek wanted to take it back, undo the hurt, make her beautiful again, if only she would obey him, love him.

"You're grandfather freed me, I am not his, nor am I yours." She coughed out, sensing his thoughts.

"Why? Why did you go back to him?" It had been a question Marek had asked himself for years after she returned from Korriban, a Sith.

Rateah wiped her nose, still sitting on the floor. Marek sat down in front of her, Quinns body presided.

"Do you recall the displays of early ancient Sith weaponry at the Acadamy, the steel swords?" She asked, her throat still burning with pain. Marek nodded.

"The ancient smiths, would heat and fold the metal until they took on the shape of the weapon. Later they used what was called a whet stone to sharpen them, to keep them from becoming dull. Lord Kaervrek, shaped me, in some cases heated and burned me quite literally, until I took on the shape of the weapon he wanted me to become. When he freed me he sharpened me. When I returned from the Acadamy, I wished to be sharp again, his power is intoxicating, he gave me purpose, and" Rateah gave Marek a significant look, "He never treated me as a slave again. He is my whet stone, how could I not return to him?"

"Even now?" Marek inquired, curious.

"No, his age is diminishing him, he is not the man or Sith he once was. You have the power and cunning to take his place, if you would look past your own nose to claim it. You are not a sycophant, you are an Eldrazzi, stop resting on your laurels expecting his power and kingdom to be laid at your feet. Build your own power structures, lay your own plans, show your ambition and your strength, earn the respect and fear of your betters and the Council, then claim your birthright." Teah fell into a coughing fit. Marek quickly grabbed some kolto and a glass of water, tentatively offering both to Teah. She took them gratefully.

Marek considered her words, "You really think that?" he thought to himself, he could become her whet stone, as she called it.

"Yes I do." She got up to her feet. Marek mirrored her, then very gently started reaching for her face with his hand, she could taste his desire it was so strong. She grabbed him by the wrist, electrifying her hand. He tried to withdraw, and winced from the shockwaves she gave him. "Do not touch me, you haven't earned the right." She intensified the pain for a brief flash, and then released him.

"When you've disposed of the body come to the bridge, we have work to do." She ordered him. Rateah felt his eyes on her as she left, felt the frustration, the obsession, he was getting dangerous. She felt her skin crawl.


	44. Chapter 44: Defender class Starship

They had been in orbit around Voss for the last three days, Republic diplomats trying to get Kianna clearance to come to the surface. Thanks to the Jedi council and their unwillingness to even open up discussions with Voss mystics, they in turn were understandably weary of letting a Jedi onto their planet. Kianna cursed the council under her breath for their rigidity, and lack of compromise.

It was early morning and Kianna was the first one up, per usual. She set the water to boil and rummaged for her favorite tea pot, the one that didn't drip, through her travels she had collected a great many tea pots in search for the elusive drip free variety. Why was it so hard to make a tea pot that didn't drip? It was another one of life's great mysteries. She pulled out the delicate china pot, hand painted with wispy purple delphiniums and pink peonies, she pulled out the matching cup and saucer, because why not? She grabbed a second mug, and set it all on a tray.

Sargent Rusk was the second to enter the galley, per usual. They moved about the galley in practiced movement learned from spending months together. Kianna, moved to the pantry and started pulling out her crews favored breakfast foods, Rusk got to work brewing coffee, and dropped a tea bag in the pot. The kettle sang and Kianna would pour the water in the pot, handing plain buttered toast to Rusk who moved to sit down with his data pad and large cup of strong black Mantellian brew. This morning was different, Kianna poured the tea in the pot, she set honey, sugar, cream and milk on the tray, she even set some lemon wedges. She then grabbed some muffins, toast, and an assortment of fruit and brought it all down to the cargo bay.

"What's this?" Scourge looked up from where he was sitting reclined on his palette with a book in his hands. Not a data pad but actual leather bound book. He set the pencil down and snapped it shut when Kianna entered the room.

"Breakfast! I didn't know if you liked coffee, I was always led to believe the hot breakfast beverage of choice for Imperials and Sith was tea, I can grab you some coffee if you like?" Kianna realized she was babbling.

The room was no longer the pitch black it had once been, there was a series of lamps casting soft light throughout the hold, enough to see everything clearly, but not as stark and bright as the florescent ceiling light. Scourge was in loose linen clothing the Jedi had provided, the quiet beige complimenting his deep red skin tone.

"I did drink tea, you are correct in that assumption." He looked at her then at the over flowing tray of food. He reached up and set it down on the small table, he and Kianna sat opposite each other. It took more will power then he thought to resist reaching out with the force towards her, to touch her energy which was always a breath of fresh air to him.

"How to you take it?" She poured the aromatic hot liquid in a large mug. Scourge stared at it for a long time searching his memories. He had poured and prepared his own tea on countless occasions prior to the change, yet now, he could not recall. "It's ok." Her voice was gentle when she sensed his growing frustration.

Instead she poured her own tea, with a drop of honey and a hint of milk. His red eyes followed her hands, and recognition erased the frustration, he chose a small scoop of raw sugar and cream. He tasted it, and grimaced. Kianna offered him her cup to try, he accepted it, his large hands infinitely careful with the fine bone china, he tasted it. He did not grimace.

"Still too sweet." He handed her back her cup. He grabbed the large mug with his first attempt and poured it out at the fresher. He tried a different combination.

They drank and ate in silence, Kianna offering him selections from the variety of food, he finished his tea, strong and black.

"I'll admit, this is preferable to ration packs." He conceded to the point Kianna was making.

"You told me once that pleasure was a powerful motivator. That simple pleasures such as favorite foods were worth anything to you, I'm surprised you've been denying yourself, now that the barrier preventing you has been lifted." Kianna wondered aloud.

Scourge considered her question, he looked at her red eyes, faintly glowing, the sapphires dotting her sky blue face, her ebony hair shining in the light, he drank her in, seeing her as she should be, not dulled, and muted. There was currently only one pleasure that was consuming him, and she had made it clear that he could not indulge in it. Yet.

"Old habits." He said absently, turning away from her.

"What were you reading?" She asked as she stood up reaching for the leather bound book on his end table. She sensed his desire surge, and thought it best to change subject.

"Don't" He reached out and grabbed her wrist, warning in his voice.

"Scourge what is it?"

"It's nothing" he pulled her away, towards him. She collided softly.

"Somehow I doubt that." She looked at his hand on her wrist, tightening, he released her, whatever was in that book was giving him a strong reaction, she could sense his control wavering. "But I'll leave you with your secrets, if it's that important to you."

"Yes. It is." Scourge felt exposed, he wanted his armor, he wanted the book to disappear and erase the vulnerability he was experiencing. He inhaled deeply and he breathed in her perfume, faint and subtle though it may be, it was intoxicating, he reached out with the force, touched her energy, it calmed him.

"All right." She murmured, distinctly aware of their closeness. He smelled of morning musk, and clean clothes, he was radiating power and strength, and always a faint undercurrent of desire. She felt him reach to her, out of need or want, she allowed the action and withdrew when she felt him calm. He stepped away from her then.

"Sir, we just got our Voss airspace confirmation, shall I take us in?" Rusk was standing at the door way staring straight ahead.

"Please do Sargent." Kianna answered.

After she had gone Scourge dressed in his armor, before he left to meet the Jedi and the rest of the crew he stopped and flipped his sketch book open, he studied the familiar face staring back at him, soft smile, the expression in her eyes haunted him, he ripped the page out. He tossed the book into his personal lock box. Three hundred years' worth of sketches of her, she was the one image that had haunted his mind's eye and waking dreams, his one beacon of hope. Before meeting them in the holo room, he quietly slipped into her chambers, and placed the picture by her bedside table. Perhaps it was the location, but he sensed something distinctly malevolent, he also felt powerful and familiar entity, he did not know if he would survive Voss.


	45. Chapter 45: Nal Hutta

Grand champion of the great hunt, Mandalorian, not only that but adopted by Mandalore himself, a record a mile long that was suddenly and inexplicably expunged, Avacynne Cadera, quite possibly the most formidable Bouty Hunter of a generation. Mitka did not expect the small Miralukan who stood in front of her. Her experience with Madalorians had been what her aunt Akaavi had taught her, and the hunting parties she had met while growing up, small had not been a word she had ever associated with the people of the warrior culture.

Aric had told her no guns, so M1-4X stayed with the ship, the rest of the crew however, were all wearing concealed vibroblades. Mitka herself had a blade in each boot, she was no fool, Vic had managed to conceal a handful of grenades. She strode across the floor of the abandoned spice factory, the sound of heavy armored boots echoing throughout the cavernous room. Mitka saw Aric, and she fought to keep her pace even, not to speed up or run towards him. It was bad enough that he was in his armor, leaning with his arms crossed, watching her with those eyes, hint of a smile on his lips, she kept her eyes straight ahead, on the bounty hunter who had started this mess to begin with. Her hands clenched into fists then relaxed again as she controlled the urge to lunge at the petite blonde who had dared to kidnap her Aric. When she stopped, the rest of Havoc smartly fell in behind her, standing at ease, ready to act if necessary.

"Captain Jorgan." She kept her eyes on the hunter, she hated not being able to look her in the eye, bloody Miraluka.

"Sir."

"Fall in." With that she reclaimed what was taken, Jorgan jogged over to his squad. "Alright hunter, I'm here, start talking."

Ava flipped on a holo image of a Sith Pureblood in long and armored robes, twin light sabers, and a face that sent chills down Mitka's spine.

"This is Lord Ardyth Eldrazzi, the Emperor's Wrath, and the person who hired me to hunt you. I think you two might be related." Ava was the only person to have met both mother and daughter in person, the two had the same angry glower, and intense yellow eyes. Both were incredibly dangerous and gave off an air of pure power, the source of that power was entirely different for each woman. Ava's grasp of the force was tenuous at best, used almost exclusively for sight, yet she managed to reach out what she called feelers, it confirmed what she had been told, Mitka was in fact force blind.

Mitka ignored the commentary, "What's the plan you had in mind?"

"Lord Eldrazzi is expecting me to deliver you on ice to her estate on Drummond Kaas, I have the location of the estate, a ship with Imp tags." Ava was explaining.

"You're asking me to trust you a lot more than I do at this point. Considering you snatched my XO and disabled my favorite war droid, I'm not overly inclined to agree to giving you full control of me and my squad. Stop wasting my time, give me something I can use or I walk." Mitka was ready to walk away, and was starting to think about hauling her ass in considering the dozen or so warrants out.

"Your squad will be coming in on your ship. I have it on good authority that Republic command is planning a major offensive on Drummond Kaas." Ava finished, with a triumphant smirk.

"That's insane." Mitka shot back.

"Not according to this transmission." A small black haired human interjected, "according to reports there is a major joint venture between the Jedi council and the Republic military, the actual target is being kept a secret, but it looks like an entire fleet is being committed to the operation. At this point there is a 83% probability that the planet the target will be on is Drummond Kaas."

"Thanks Mako, I figure we fly in during the chaos, at different landing sites, and take out the Wrath. She's Sith, and a powerful one, but between my crew and your squad, we can take her." Ava was pleased to see Mitka's skepticism evaporate when Mako sent them copies of the transmissions.

"Yuun, can you confirm that intel?" Mitka could hardly believe what she was reading.

"It is authentic." Her Gand slicer assured her a moment later.

"I won't move Havoc unless we have a 95% confirmation that Drummond Kaas is the target planet. If we can get that, Havoc is in." Mitka declared.

"That's fine Major, my crew and I don't move unless we get a 10% deposit, I will do this job with you, for your Republic for no less than five million creds." Ava declared shrewdly.

There was the catch, but with a target whose title is the Emperor's Wrath, surely Garza would approve payment. Elara chose that moment to be helpful.

"Sir, the Republic Military, in accordance with the senate ruling on bill 523 in the year 3 ATC, is legally forbidden from engaging and hiring mercenaries."Dorne rang off the information.

"That's where you're wrong sugar!" A third voice emerged from the far corner of the room.

"Mom?" Mitka stared as her mother, flanked by her father and Akaavi Spar, made their way to where she and Avacynne were standing.

**and to be.**


	46. Chapter 46: Nal Hutta

Ainsley had not expected to see her daughter, they had tracked the bounty hunter and her crew to the abandoned factory. The three laid in wait and listened in on the conversation, finally Corso tapped her, and pointed at the Jawa who was trying to look tough, but only managed to look ridiculously cute. It was time to make their move, she always did like making an entrance.

"Hey Sweetheart." Corso answered Mitka's surprise. He was bursting with pride, he had never actually seen her in full armored uniform, and she had a scary intense and professional air about her. For a split second that all disappeared when she saw her parents, and she was their fiery little girl again.

"Daddy?" Mitka's heart jumped when she saw her father, then felt her cheeks burning.

"Daddy, eh?" Vik rumbled behind her. She was not going to live this down.

"Stow it Vik" Jorgan called out, though she knew enough about Aric that he would be teasing her as well later.

"You brought your parents to this deal Major? That's not what we agreed to." Avacynne reached behind to her concealed blaster. Ainsley had her twin barrels out before she could reach them.

"That's a bad idea hunter, and no, Major Riggs did not know we were here. My business is with one of your crew, but if you play it right I think I might like to hire you for that little job you were just discussing." Ainsley noted how the bounty hunters crew all turned towards the Devaronian.

"Gault, what did you do?" Ava sighed, hands on hips.

"Hey, why does everyone always assume it's me?" Gault lifted his hands in the air.

"Blizz?" Ainsley knelt down to the Jawa's level, "Slam gave you something, a data cube to keep safe for a friend. I'm that friend, and I need you to give it to me."

"Blizz don't know you, how does Blizz know robot lady not lying?" The Jawa chittered nervously.

Ainsley pulled out an old beaten spanner, and handed it to the Jawa. Blizz took it and turned it over in his small deft fingers, he popped open a hidden compartment, much to Ainsleys surprise, and a chip fell out. He then turned the chip over in his fingers, the cube appeared from out of his robes and he slipped the chip in, a holo image appeared of a friendly old man, Slam.

"Hey Blizz, glad you got off Hoth, this is my friend Captain Ainsley Isiz, she's looking for that data cube we found in that old Republic ship, she's a friend Blizz, you did a good thing keeping it safe, but it belongs to the Captain and the people she works for. I'm off Hoth now, here's my new holo frequency, give me a call next time you're on Nar Shaddaa, and we'll catch up."

The recorded image disappeared, and Blizz looked back at Ainsley. He then gingerly dropped the cube in her hands.

"Much obliged Blizz." She stood up handing the cube to Akaavi.

"Wait, Blizz how do you know it's not a plant?" Ava asked not liking the situation at all, least of all the fact that Blizz gave something away, that obviously had value.

"It's ok Boss, this Slam's special spanner, Blizz added the secret hole, for secret messages. Only Blizz and Slam know." Blizz said proudly.

Ava looked from the Jawa back at the interlopers, her mouth set in a hard line.

"Now then!" Ainsley spoke loudly her voice echoing off the walls. "About offing that Sith! You could try haggling with the Republic, I myself am still an officially sanctioned privateer, but the pay is lousy and they tax you on top of that. Right Mit?"

"Pays the bills, but it's nothing to write home about, what are you getting at mom?" Mitka was mystified, she knew her mother was involved in shady dealings, she just never knew what.

"I work for an organization who would be very interested in taking out the Emperor's Wrath, and they would be willing to pay your asking price. Same plan you just laid out, working with my girl and her squad. Difference is you would be working for me, and Mitka here would be working for the Republic. She does her duty, you make a nice tidy profit, and the Galaxy is down one more powerful and dangerous Sith. Everyone goes home happy, except the Sith."

"I don't deal with middle men, I want to talk to your boss." Ava asked, although she liked the idea of not dealing directly with the Republic military. The Cyborg Captain gave her a wide smile.

"Of course." She tapped at her data pad, then handed it to Ava, "Coordinates, I'll let them know to expect you." Ainsley extended her hand to Avacynne, who shook it.

"I look forward to doing business with you…."

"Call me Ava, and likewise. Now let's get off this mudball, I don't know about the rest of you but getting Hutta stank off armor is a pain." She indicated to her crew to move out, when she passed by Mitka she extended her hand again. Mitka looked at it, then shook it. "No hard feelings Major, looking forward to seeing what you can do."

"Cross me again and I will kill you." Mitka growled through a forced smile.

Mitka and the rest of Havoc watched them go, she then gave the order for them to head back to the ship. "Jorgan with me." Aric nodded to the rest and hung back with Mitka and her parents. Corso finally took the chance to give his daughter a bear hug, as did Akaavi, both beamed with pride, Akaavi doubly so when she counted the number of concealed vibroblades. Ainsley considered her daughter before pulling her into a hug.

"We need to talk kiddo." She said softly.

"Ya think? First, things first, I don't know when I'll get another chance. Mom, dad, I want you to meet Aric Jorgan, XO of Havoc squad, and my fiancé." Mitka's mouth quirked up into a silly grin at calling him by that title. Ainsley, Corso and Akaavi were suddenly very interested in Aric, sizing him up, the jovial and openness that usually described Corso was replaced by a hard and protective look. "Aric, these are my parents, Ainsley Isiz, Corso Riggs, and my aunt Akaavi Spar." To his credit Aric didn't back down, he extended his hand to Corso, with a respectful sir, that softened him up almost immediately. Within ten minutes Aric, Corso and Akaavi were debating the finer points of Blastec tech verses Czerka tech weaponry. Ainsley took her chance.

"What are your plans after Hutta Mit?" She mumurred voice low, although the trio trailing behind were paying them no mind.

"I have a debrief on Coruscant, then some leave. Was going to see about helping Cohen with his little problem, but I have a feeling that's no longer an issue. Also seems I need to wait to see about this new op that I've just agreed to." She eyes her mother sidelong, not sure what to make of her anymore.

"You always were a smart girl Mit. Do you trust him?" She nudged her head back towards Aric.

"Wouldn't have agreed to marry him if I didn't." It was an odd question, but she got the meaning. Could Aric be trusted with sensitive info that might not hold up to Republic law. Considering his absolute disdain for Republic command, the SIS and the bloated senate, he was known to turn a blind eye in favor of doing the right thing.

"Fair enough, when you're done on Coruscant, come meet me and the rest of the family at these coordinates, bring your man, and don't take an official military ship. Your brothers and Oriah will be there." Ainsley tapped her datapad and sent the info to Mitka's private mail address. "Oh and sweetheart, congratulations!" She gave Mitka another big hug. They parted ways at the Jiguuna space port. Mitka and Aric finally found themselves alone together, Aric wasted no time and pulled her into a long passionate kiss. It had been way too long.

"Let's get out of here." He growled hotly in her ear, she just nodded and let him guide her back to the ship. Her mind was swimming with everything that had just happened, filled with questions. It would all have to wait, for now she just wanted to jump into a hot shower with her husband to be.


	47. Chapter 47: The Star Chamber

Eckard Lokin stood in the lab he had claimed as his own, he very carefully pulled out the vial with the nearly century old frozen embryo. Under the microscope he carefully extracted genetic materials and deposited it into a new petri dish, he then safely returned the original embryo back into its icy holdings. He had to be sure it would work before applying his theory on the original.

He deposited an accelerant to the genetic materials, and with time the genetics turned into an exact clone of the original frozen embryo, he smiled when it naturally split, creating a second, then split again creating quads. He added a solution to the dish halting the process, then pulled up the research he had stolen from Sith Intelligence. Two files came up, the first outlining the eugenics program for the Watchers. The second he had to be very careful with, he had stolen it over twenty years ago, kept it safe, kept it secret from his would be Chiss daughter. He had to adjust the parameters, but if it worked he would be able to create a generation of Hunters that would have the castellan restraints ingrained into them on a genetic level, passed down to subsequent generations. Shiloh would not approve, but she was soft, in order for the Star Cabal to survive soft wouldn't cut it. He had seen firsthand the effectiveness of the restraints, how it could be used. Shiloh let it become personal, got emotionally involved not seeing the potential of the program.

Having seen the independence and resistance Ainsley had displayed worried him, Hunters were tools and weapons, agents to be used by the Star Cabal. His daughter had entirely too much autonomy, thankfully she was the last of that particular generation. The new Star Cabal will have genetically engineered, loyal and deadly agents at its disposal to dispatch their enemies. He extracted one of the embryo's and placed it under the microscope, with deft precision he began manipulating it, adding and removing genes while following the eugenics protocol. Finally when the embryo was at acceptable levels, he added a drop of the castellan restrain solution. He covered the petri dish, now to wait and see if the embryo survives. He felt almost giddy with excitement, this would be his legacy. This would be his gift, these girls he was creating would be her children, her tools, and her weapons.

Scorpio strode in and Lokin greeted her with a smile.

"It is done then Doctor?" She asked in her deep feminine voice.

"It is Scorpio, it's only the beginning, I shall have to monitor the embryo's progress, I don't expect this one to survive, but that's science. Exciting isn't it?" He spoke excitedly, he hadn't been this pleased with a project since his Rackgoul experimentation.

"I admit, the idea of a restraining bolt for sentients is a compelling thought, I wish I had been present to observe Cipher 9 under its influence. How will you subvert her stance on the subject?"

"She won't know. All she will know is that she has a new crop of Hunters. I've adjusted the restraints to not need a control word, they will respond on voice alone. Shiloh's voice." Lokin declared proudly.

"Fascinating. I shall leave you to your work doctor." Scorpio left the lab, and the beaming Dr. Lokin behind her. This was an interesting development indeed.


	48. Chapter 46: Voss

Shiloh breathed in the crisp Voss air, it was cool without being cold, a perpetual autumn. In the twenty five years since she had been here nothing had changed. Despite peace talks among the Voss and Gormack, factions on both sides continued to fan the flames of war. She wound her way through the streets, the cube was still in orbit, there was no reason for Kianna to bring it down. Vector and Malavai trailed behind her stopping at small shops to look over their wares, walking through the Voss shop keepers, the two ghosts, hallucinations, spoke amiably to one another. Shiloh did her best to ignore them, look past them and not speak to them. The responsibility on her shoulders was too great to give in to fantasy and delusions. Shiloh finally came to a halt in front of a familiar building, small smile on her lips remembering.

"The tea house, we remember. The hive enjoyed the many flavors, and we discovered that certain brews had healing properties." Vector came and stood beside her, Shiloh simply nodded her head absently, the only recognition she gave her long dead lover.

"We also remember your wedding to Phi-ton, a beautiful ceremony." Vector smiled broadly.

"You're married? To a Voss? You never told me." Malavai looked at her both hurt and quizzically. Shiloh didn't answer him.

"Yes, she never consummated the relationship, the Voss do not believe in annulments or divorce, Phi-ton has not been able to re-marry. Voss emotions of love and desire, sexual maturity if you will, are awakened with the marriage ritual. Shiloh has not seen him since their wedding day. It is a cruel fate Phi-ton agreed to." Vector spoke in his melodic monotone, the words cutting her heart, guilt flaring.

She wanted to argue, it had been necessary, she did not consummate the relationship out of love for Vector, and it wasn't fair for him to throw it back in her face, though it had been cruel to Phi-ton. Instead she ignored the judgmental stares of her hallucinations and entered the tea house. She took a seat and gave her order to the young boy who came running, a blend to sooth the mind.

"Wife." Whispered the tall Voss with the cyan patterned skin and the kind honeycomb eyes. His voice was quiet, disbelieving. He was holding the cup and saucer, his hands were shaking only slightly, the only indication of the emotions he was feeling under the calm and controlled Voss exterior.

"Husband." Shiloh stood when she saw him, out of respect, or of fear. In their years apart Phi-ton had not changed, she could not spy any of the normal signs of aging, she was suddenly aware of the grey in her hair and the lines and scars in her face. Time had not been kind to her.

"I thought never to see you again. There have been no visions, even though I have prayed for them." He struggled with the words, his face pained his strange eyes shone with unshed tears.

Shiloh had not expected this kind of reaction, the joy and pain and longing, they had known each other so briefly. She reached out and took the cup of tea, and indicated for him to sit. She suddenly didn't want to ask anything of him, wished she hadn't come to cause this pain.

"What purpose brings you back to Voss, wife?" He asked quietly.

Shiloh wanted to tell him it was to come home, to be with him, to live out the rest of her days in peace helping him brew and serve tea, and in that moment it was true. "I'm searching for my sister." She saw a glimmer of hope die and her gut twisted in knots for inflicting the pain. "She is a Jedi, and a Chiss like me, there are not many, if any, others like her. Have you, or anyone seen her or heard from her? Her name is Kianna."

"I have not, but I will send my nephew to learn what he can at the Republic embassy." He called over the little boy who had taken her order and sent him on his way. "Will you stay with me, in my home, while you search for your sister?" He asked with the faintest glimmer of hope returning.

"I would be honored Phi-ton." He smiled then, broadly.

She sipped her tea and Vector walked away, she took another sip and Malavai's accusing face dissipated. She drank as Phi-ton told her of his families coming and goings, his pride in his nieces and nephews. She could close her eyes and listen to him speak, it was a soothing balm, instead she smiled and nodded and took his hand, and held it while she spoke. Perhaps one day, if she survives her plans and the trials of the greater Galaxy , she would return to Voss and live out the rest of her life, in fact she vowed she would survive so that she could.

Phi-ton's nephew returned with word that her sister had gone to the wilderness with a great red Sith, that she sought wisdom at the shrine of healing, that she had plans of entering the Dark Heart. It was getting late, so pursuing her would have to wait until morning. It had grown dark, and she waited for Phi-ton to close his tea house. She walked hand in hand with him under a moonless night sky, the stars shining brilliantly. They arrived at a small but comfortable home, he led her around indicating where things were, he showed her the bedroom, it was the only one having no need for more.

"I will sleep in the main room, you sleep here. The bed is comfortable." He made to leave, Shiloh grabbed his hand.

"Phi-ton, have you ever…I mean after we married did you ever find someone…" The guilt she felt for robbing him of that pleasure, of loving someone wholly.

"No, it is not the Voss way." He answered simply, guarding his feelings well.

"I'm so sorry. How can you be so gracious and kind to me, when I've robbed you of so much." She hated torturing him like this, but she had to know, had to know why his didn't hate her.

"I knew what was being asked of me when I agreed to marry you, I understood what it meant. I do admit that after, when I had fully awoken and felt the needs of a husband, it was difficult. I love you wife, I would not harm you, or cause you pain." His voice was soft his honeycomb eyes gentle.

"How can you love me, you don't know me at all, how can you…" Shiloh felt her voice crack, it was too much, and she feared for him, the last two men to have declared their love for her were dead and gone.

"A husband loves his wife, it is decreed, it is the Voss way." He sensed her conflict and he pulled her to him in a strong hug. He rested his chin on the top of her head and stroked her back as she started to cry. It wasn't for him she cried, Phi-ton knew that much, she was damaged and broken, and it was good she would be going to the shrine. He gathered her soft blue hair streaked with grey in his hand, enjoying the alien feel of it. She finally turned her scared and tear streaked face up to his. He traced a finger along a particularly angry gash.

"In the morning I will contact the mystics so that you can be healed." He said softly.

"It's old scars Phi-ton, long past healing." She gave him a sad smile, such a kind heart.

"It is for your soul." He said simply, running fingers through hair, the closeness and the intimacy of touch felt right to him, in a way he could not explain.

Shiloh pulled him down to her and kissed him, he felt a thrill he had never hoped to feel and he returned her ardor, his heart pounding finally feeling what it felt like to be a husband and mate. She continued to cry, he tasted the saltiness in their kiss, he wiped them away with his hands, cupping her face, not breaking the seal their lips made. Shiloh gave herself to him, it was the only way she could show her thanks and gratitude, and she needed him, needed his kindness to keep the nightmares at bay. Vector and Malavai stayed mercifully away, as this sweet and gentle man caressed her body, not cringing or shying away from the bevy of scars that riddled her body. Her tears refused to stop as they made love, it was cleansing and pure and she would have died in that moment content. She fell asleep wrapped in his arms, wishing she could promise never to leave him again.


	49. Chapter 49: Weather Light XS-Freighter

Oriah re-read the same sentence for the third time, her mind was elsewhere. She was hiding out in the spacious captain's quarters, away from the two men who were causing her so much confusion. The mystery of the cubes would be revealed, so she had stopped working on that particular puzzle. She needed to be away from Cohen and his mischievous blue eyes, easy charm and astounding intelligence; he challenged her mind, he made her see things in different lights and she found herself excited and flushed when they solved an especially difficult problem. In escaping Cohen she would come face to face with Aaron who was thoughtful and intense and had a way of quickening her heart when he let her glimpse his elusive smile. Aaron let her be herself, listened to what she said, there was no pressure with him, no expectations to preform, and he had a comforting and welcoming aura, she enjoyed and looked forward to the quiet moments they spent together. They both stirred feelings in her, feelings she had not experienced before, both different but equally intense and confusing. She needed to talk to someone, she had grown fond of both men, she needed a sign that would clearly tell her what she needed to do, choose one or the other, or forgo any relationship at all, it wasn't fair to anyone as it stood. She needed her sister.

A soft knock on the door interrupted her fourth attempt at reading the opening sentence of her book. She opened the door heart already pounding so hard it felt like her ribcage wouldn't hold it in place. Leaning against the door was Cohen, arms crossed blue eyes shining, half grin on his lips.

"You avoiding me red?" Cohen inquired, Oriah's hair was unbound and loose, falling in soft curls almost to her waist.

"No!" Yes. "I just needed some time to myself, that's all." She stammered.

"I can understand that." He gave her a wink, implying something she did not catch. "Anyways, just wanted you to know that's we'll be arriving at the space station in about three hours. Also, we're flying by a gorgeous example of a dark Nebula, thought you might like to see." His smile grew as her eyes widened in excitement. He moved out of the doorway so she could get by, and they both hurried to the cockpit.

Oriah looked out the window, wishing it was larger, she decided to climb up the pilots chair so she could get a better look. Sure enough there was the nebula, blue and purple like a giant raincloud in space. She heard Cohen's footsteps behind her.

"Cohen it's beautiful!" She said breathlessly as she balanced precariously on the chair.

"Very beautiful." He agreed though he wasn't looking at the nebula. He placed his hands on her hips, steadying her; he could smell the lilac shampoo scent of her hair.

Oriah swallowed hard when she felt his hands on her, he was always finding ways to touch her and get close to her, it was incredibly distracting. Of course he must have known that he had an effect on her, which is why he did it. She forced herself to keep looking out the window, and she thought to herself, Aaron should see this, he would appreciate the raw beauty in it, even if he didn't understand the science behind it. She started climbing down carefully, she wanted to call Aaron over so he could experience it. Cohens hand remained firmly in place, helping her down. When she turned to tell him to call Aaron over her words got lost in Cohens lips as she found herself pulled into a heated kiss. Cohen was insistent and confident, his lips barely giving her time to breath or to gather her thoughts on what was happening. It would have been pleasant, wonderful even if not for the overwhelming feelings of guilt, and the fact that she wanted him to be his brother. This was the sign she needed, the moment of clarity. She had to tell him, she had to stop and breath and think and tell Cohen this wasn't going to happen.

"Well isn't this cozy." Aaron said in a tight angry voice.

Oriah ripped herself away from Cohen's embrace only to be hit by Aaron's hurt face. It was all going wrong.

"Aaron." Her voice stuck in her throat when his disappointed and angry glare fell on her. "This isn't…" He was gone before she could finish. Cohen's arms were still around her, she wriggled out of his grasp, when she glanced up Cohen's normally handsome face was twisted into an ugly triumphant smile.

"You planed this. You knew he would see us." Her voice quiet.

"He has to learn to stay away from what's mine." He spoke absently. Oriah slapped him hard across the face then. She was brought back to her mother's estate, being paraded in front of potential suitors like a piece of meat, like a possession. He grasped his face and looked down on her with an expression of utter surprise.

"I'm not yours, I was never yours. How dare you Cohen!" She hit his chest, pushed him away, unable to believe he could be so callous and cruel, to her, to his own family.

"Wow, easy Oriah, that's not what I meant. What I meant was that he needed to take a hint and back off when it was clear you and I had chemistry." He threw his hands up in the air; she wasn't supposed to react this way.

"You and I have nothing, Cohen Riggs, do you understand." She said in a venomous voice, she turned on her heels and went running after Aaron.

Cohen sat down heavily in the pilots chair rubbing his eyes with his hands, guilt and frustration eating at his heart. How did he manage to always do this, hurt the people he cared about. He let competition and jealousy get the better of him, let his arrogance and pride overwhelm him. He wasn't this person, this petty scheming person, it was an act. It was always an act, the problem was that he couldn't distinguish between who he really was or the act anymore. He sat, head in his hands for the rest of the trip.


	50. Chapter 50: Voss

Scourge was not permitted to aid Kianna in the mystics trial, it didn't sit well with him, but he acquiesced. She was powerful and capable; it was he who saw knives in backs and betrayal around every corner. She would not die here, it was not in his vision, in this one area he tended to agree with the Voss, a vision was never wrong. He watched her meditate at the alter a moment longer, then he felt her essence leave her body as it crumpled to the ground, alive, as though in a deep sleep. Eventually Kira approached him.

"The mystics are asking you to leave this area." Kira said.

He looked down at her with intense red eyes, sneer on his full lips. "I care not for the wishes of mystics."

"You don't, but Kianna does. Nothing will happen to her, me, Doc, Rusk and T7 are here to make sure nothing happens to her. The fact is, your dark side Sithiness is affecting our girl in the trance." Kira gave him a heated resentful look. Kira knew he paid her no mind, didn't acknowledge the third Force user in their motley crew, but Kira sensed the tense and emotionally charge energy between the two. She resented the persistent reminder of her year long imprisonment, even worse was that Kianna was falling for him, Kira wanted him gone, now the mystics wanted him gone and Kianna needed to focus on her task, not on a unstable brooding three hundred year old Sith. "Go back to the city, go for a walk, go jump off one of the many cliffs in the area, I don't care, but you need to leave this place." Kira hissed refusing to be intimidated by the imposing Pureblood.

He stared down at her, lip curling, he looked back at Kianna's sleeping body, vulnerable, open, and he felt something twist inside of him, her hood had fallen, black hair spilling over her face, lips slightly parted. He realized his desire, and anger and any other emotion he could barely contain would seep into her dream state. He barely controlled his anger and disdain when he realized that Kira was right.

"Comm me the moment she has finished." He turned and stalked out of the Shrine of healing.

Scourge was slowly getting better at controlling and focusing his emotions, with Kianna's help and the old memories of his long finished life, he was finding his equilibrium. Still he had only sparred, had not been presented with an opportunity to test himself in true combat. He did not doubt his martial prowess, only how the reintroduction of emotion guiding the Force would affect him and his abilities.

Once outside, Scourge headed towards a cave that had called to him on their journey in. It was a place of power he sensed, strong with the dark side. As he walked his senses tingled, as if a cool breeze on the back of his neck, he was being followed. His lightsaber hung at his hip, the familiar weight a constant in his over long life. Despite being followed, he breathed deeply and enjoyed the crisp and earthy scent of this place anyways. His mind strayed to her, as it always did, Scourge quickened his pace, not letting his emotions catch up with him, he needed a moment of stillness to collect his thoughts without them being taken over by tugging, insistent, adolescent feelings.

He stopped at the caves threshold he sensed the entity following him stop as well, he turned his head to one side, not seeing anything. Scourge willed his lightsaber into his hand, and walked forward. It was more tunnel then cave, he could see the dappled sun on the clearing at the other side. He walked purposely towards it, the feeling of familiar malevolence was strong here, it waited for him, and he would meet it.

Shiloh exited the healing room, giving the mystic a respectful bow, she felt calm and at peace, Vector and Malavai had not returned since the tea had banished them, and now, feeling more like herself then she had in over thirty years. She felt strong as she exited the room, as she rounded a corner she was passed by a large and scowling Sith Pureblood dressed in the robes of a Jedi. The face was unmistakable, she looked to where he came from, heavily guarded, Kianna must be in there. She looked back, catching only the flutter of his robe as he turned another corner. Shiloh followed.

The crisp air met her when she reached the exit, the horizon a blaze with the colours of the orange and red leaves on the trees. She saw him not far heading towards a small goat trail path, leading to the mouth of a cave. She walked a few step then activated her stealth generator. What was he up to, this Sith, why would her sister travel with him? Why would he leave her sister at this junction, her goal was simply to investigate and follow, who was he.

The cave was dark and damp, he had looked right at her at the mouth of the cave, he knew, but she chose to remain hidden anyways, deciding she was not a serious threat. The Sith walked to the clearing, it was a small clearing with a large ancient Sith altar at the edge of a cliff that fell away. Despite the sunlight it was a dark place, cold and deadly, the cliff inviting death, the rock face surrounding the cave opening sheer and unyielding. Shiloh waited at the mouth of the cave, wondering what he would do. She gripped a grenade in one hand. He knew she was there, he could sense her, and she wanted to make sure she could make a quick getaway if possible. He was still gripping his lightsaber, though it was not ignited.

He walked to the altar and knelt in reverence, he bowed his head, his back was to her, so Shiloh couldn't see his face, but she could only guess he was meditating. Black and red smoke started to envelop him, Shiloh had seen a physical manifestation of the dark side only once before, and that was in the presence of Darth Jadus, when he "blessed" her so many years ago.

He lifted his head and turned his gaze on Shiloh, she checked her stealth field generator, it was still on, but his red eyes bore through her, past her. It was only when she heard footsteps behind her that she realized it wasn't at her he was staring. Shiloh did her best to turn into the rock she was standing beside, there was nowhere to hide, there was no way for her to climb the smooth wet wall, she flattened herself as best as she could. That's when she saw them, the healing, the peace and the calm she had fought so hard to attain in the past twenty four hours was shattered. Vector stood beside them, blaster hole in his head, pale green eyes staring.

"Lord Scourge." Ardyth spoke the title with a respectful bow of her head, "Our master is displeased with you. I am to collect your head." She ignited twin sabers.

"Wrath." He spoke the one word before igniting his crimson lightsaber, and then waited for her to come to him.


	51. Chapter 51:Voss, Continued

Pierce felt dirty, it wasn't the sweat under his armor, or the dirt and dust sticking to his face and neck. He looked at Ardyth's form in front of him, she had stopped at yet another Voss alter to meditate. She said the Emperor was guiding her to her quarry, she would occasionally mumble, or gasp in her trances. It was more expression then she had afforded him back on the ship.

In the dark of space, in the dead of night, he had taken his wife roughly, and she had only stared up at him with dead yellow eyes. He had wrapped his hands around her neck in the moments before climax, his face twisted up in anger and excitement, anything to make her feel him, but he was only met with a passive stare, her body not responding, only a vessel, a husk for him to use. So he used it, because to make love to anyone else was even more distasteful. He clung to wild hope that maybe he could bring her back, because he had to, because he would never leave her.

"Are you satisfied?" She had asked when he was spent and done. He wasn't, he had not been satisfied since before that call to the Emperor's chambers, but he nodded, pushed off of her and went and stood in a hot shower for two hours. Pierce was fairly certain he cried he had been doing that a lot when he was alone in the shower, the hot water washing them away before he was aware of them. He had to stop going to her, but she was worse the spice. The fall out after words, that crashing feeling when he was done was harsher than any drug he had taken in his life, and he had taken a few in his youth. He had to stop going to her, it was easy to say to himself in the shower that would never make him clean again, but in the black of space or dead of night, when he was filled with memories, his resolve was not so strong.

"This way Captain." Her voice snapped him back, he nodded and followed mutely, stepping over the body of the dead Voss pilgrim.

She led them to a cave near the great Voss shrine, he remembered it from a life time ago when Ardyth was making her name, fighting off Baras, when she was in love with Quinn. He felt old, too old, he was living on borrowed time because a grunt like him wasn't supposed to live as long as he had. He gripped his rifle, the hard steel in his hands was a comfort.

"He's at the other side, in the clearing, guard our rear." Ardyth ordered.

"Yes, my Lord." Pierce spied a large boulder at the opposite mouth of the cave, a good vantage point, beyond that a hulking Sith Pureblood stood waiting, the former Wrath of the Emperor. He felt a blinding hatred, if this bloody red Sith had done his duty, and remained at the Emperor's bloody side, his Ardyth would still be his. He was of a mind to shoot him between the eyes, he went to the boulder and using the stone to steady himself he took aim. He heard the shimmer of the stealth generator shutting off too late.

Ardyth flew at Scourge with all the power of the emperor behind her, Scourge parried and reached out with his feelings and found a void in his opponent, he would have to rely on reading her movements with his eyes and not the force. She was quick and nimble, her purple sabers a flurry of motion. The Wrath got the first hit in, a glancing blow, he smelt his burnt flesh and singed armor, another first. Scourge blocked another flurry of attacks, as his lightsaber blocked he backhanded the Sith with his free hand, it landed with a satisfying crunch.

She might be a void but there was power in this place, he drew on the innate dark side energy, there was also emotion, strong emotions of fear and hate and rage, his hidden follower had made herself known, she was locked in combat with the soldier the Wrath had brought. Their unbridled raw emotion fed him, he pulled their energy to him and he smiled a toothy feral grin as he went on the offensive. His attacks were powerful and shook his opponents guard, he grunted and roared with each swing of the saber. His punch had opened a cut on the Wrath's face, he scented her blood, he scented blood from the two battling behind him, he force pushed the Wrath into the hard bedrock above the mouth of the cave. She landed on her feet but Scourge was there, their eyes met, cold golden yellow against deep angry blood red. Scourge felt his own hatred well inside of him, at the blasphemy of this woman, immortal but dead to the force. He felt his white rage blossom at the long years he had been a living death, where he had been unable to feel the living force around him. She jumped above him flipping as she did, throwing a lightsaber midair towards him, he parried it and it flew back to her hand.

"Abomination" Scourge spit.

The word gave Ardyth momentary pause, the image of a squalling infant came to mind. "As you once were."

"No longer, and I will purge this galaxy of your taint." He growled barring his teeth like a wild beast, like one of the ancient Sith, he was fearsome.

Shiloh watched as Pierce set up his rifle, she gripped her vibroknife. This man, she had vowed to end him as painfully as possible for what he had done to Vector and to her. She was brought back to their apartment, on a cold night, laying naked on the floor as she watched helpless as he was shot between the eyes. She remembered Pierces laugh, how he had beat her in an attempt to break her even more, all the while she was screaming and crying and watching Vectors dead face, helpless. She deactivated her stealth field; she was greeted by a look of utter surprise as she drove the vibroknife towards his face.

Pierce blocked her with his rifle, but she grabbed and twisted, it was thrown skittering across the clearing, over the cliff. He pulled his own knife and pistol, and then was hit with a wave of recognition.

"You." He breathed, how was she still alive?

"Surprise." Shiloh's voice was low, dangerous, dripping with hate.

"The alien, with the freak, I remember you. Fine, you want a die? I'll oblige you." He flipped his dagger in one hand, adjusting his grip, he holstered his pistol, a good rumble was just what he needed.

Shiloh lunged, he would find she wasn't so helpless as she was on their last encounter. Her training came back to her, second nature, she was small and quick, easily able to duck and weave away from Pierces swings. They grappled each of them trying to get in close enough to sheath their knife in the others flesh. Shiloh felt a large and powerful knee connect with her stomach, winding her, followed by a large hand in her hair pulling her head back, exposing her neck. Her arm shot up slicing the arm that was holding her, digging, finding a weak spot in his gloves; she felt her knife bite flesh. Pierce released her with a curse, throwing his gloves to the ground. Shiloh saw blood drip down his wrist and smiled.

"You're a fool, we could have been allies once upon a time, your father was respected, James." It was true, she had met with the old woman, Mary Pierce, entrusted her. She had spoken of her husband and son with such pride, confident her boy would fall in, his disdain for the Empire and Sith bred into him at a young age. Then he killed Vector.

"I don't ally with alien scum." His face contorted, she knew more about his family then even he did. He found a new reason to hate his dead parents. Full of conspiracies and lies, why did they wait so long to tell him, didn't they trust him? They forced his hand, forced him out, forced him to abandon his mother to squalor. Pierce had never cared that his father had betrayed the empire, but he had betrayed his family, his only son, and he had never known or understood the reasons. Tid bits of information raining on him like rogue moisture droplets on Tatooine, too little too late.

Shiloh lunged again into Pierces deadly embrace, they fought, Pierces fist connected with her face, he felt her nose shatter again, he liked breaking her nose, breaking her smug Chiss face, now so ugly and full of scars, just like his. She twisted, her feet running up the cave wall until she was up and over him, she pulled a second, longer vibrokife from her boot, she sliced the unprotected tendons behind his knee, he fell with a painful grunt. She looked up, in time to see the large male Sith stab Lord Ardyth in the gut, Pierce made a pained sound, and reached for his pistol. Shiloh stabbed his shoulder then pulled his head up by his hair, knife pressing into the soft fleshy area under his jaw.

"She's not dead yet, look, I think he'll kill her though." Shiloh felt him struggle, she stepped into his leg wound, blood spilled onto the tip of her boot. "No, you watch, here, helpless. Just like I did." She hissed in his ear.

Scourge pressed his attack, unrelenting, even when the Wraths saber seeped into his shoulder. The pain only fed his fervor, he switched forms to compensate for his wound and the wrath stumbled for a split second in trying to adjust, it was all the time he needed. His crimson saber dug into her stomach, blood bloomed from her mouth. He cut upwards, widening the gaping cauterized mortal wound. The smell of burnt flesh alongside the blood that flowed from her lips was an intoxicating bouquet.

"Die now, abomination." He spoke with a voice full of vengeance and hatred.

"I…cannot….die." Ardyth gurgled.

Scourges saber dug into rib, lung, it came out between shoulder and neck, she was nearly cleaved in two. When his saber left her body she staggered backwards, unable to feed her lungs air, she fell back into oblivion off the cliff. Scourges reached out with his feeling towards her, he would have liked to feel her death, but there was still nothing only void. He breathed heavily the dark side screaming in his ears, like a hurricane, demanding her death, demanding release. He stepped back, lest the force of his emotions send him after her. He turned then, to see the Chiss woman holding a knife at the soldiers throat, he sensed the beautiful pain coming from the soldier, agony, he had loved the Wrath, and the Chiss had made him watch. Scourge approved.

Their eyes met, red on red, they were familiar, she reminded him of Kianna, the shape of her face, the heart shape of her lips. Only she was force blind, harder, colder, and older, Scourge nodded at her, though inside he was begging her to finish the job. He could only bear sitting on the precipice of death for so long. The knife cut into the soldiers throat, Scourge closed his eyes pulling in the last moments of life to him like a blanket, fear, anger, and abject despair filled the soldier as he died, but there was relief, peace, and joy in the death as well, they washed over him, and Scourge inhaled deeply and shuddered as he exhaled. When his eyes opened the soldier was a crumpled bloody corpse on the ground, the Chiss was nearly bathed in his blood, she was kneeling, her emotions were those of longing and a deep rooted pain.

"Who are you?" He asked finally.

"Shiloh Chint'aro" She spoke with an Imperial accent, "You travel with my sister, I would like to know why."

Scourge lifted an eyebrow ridge, the familiarity made sense now, the sister Kianna had told him so much about, the sister who had abandoned her, who had led them to the depth of Belsavis. He was certain she must have been dead, but he found that Kianna was right again.

"I am Lord Scourge, your sister has a destiny, she will kill the Emperor. First she will save this planet from eradication." He said simply, he half smiled at the surprise on her face. "Kianna has held out hope for many years that you were still alive, I know she will have questions."

"And I will answer them." She tried wiping Pierces thick and sticky blood from her hands on her pants to no avail. "When she is finished….saving the planet. Tell her, tell her to meet me here." She handed Scourge a plastoid card with information for Phi-ton's tea house on it. The blood on her fingers left an imprint on the card. "I will remain on Voss until I see her."

Scourge accepted the card and nodded at her, her mouth set in a grim line, she activated her stealth field generator and left him. He felt the throb of his shoulder wound, he began the long walk back to the Shrine. For the first time since the return of his senses and emotions he felt whole, confident, not afraid of who he was any longer.

He saw Kianna's familiar form on the steps of the Shrine, he reached out with the force, wordlessly letting her know he was there. The smile on her face when she saw him forced his own lips upwards, he hurried his pace. Her face fell when she saw the saber wound in his shoulder. Before she could open her mouth to speak he pulled her to him, wrapping her in his arms and energy and claimed her lips, she felt her gasp into him and he only deepened the kiss. He had kept his word, he was a whole man a true Sith, the combat and the death cementing who he was, and he would no longer be denied.

"You're hurt." Kianna said breathlessly as she forced herself away, only her legs wouldn't work. Her eyes took a moment to focus, and that's when she noticed the blood on his armor and robes. "Is that your blood?" He smiled at her in a way that made her heart stop, dark and feral.

"It is the blood of your enemies." He spoke close to her ear, his breath on her skin, not helping her wobbly leg predicament.

"Bloody Force! Is that a lightsaber burn?" Docs voice broke the moment, although Scourge continued to eye Kianna predatorily, he licked his lips, she blushed a deep red.

"When we are done, you have an ally and friend to meet here." Scourge handed Kianna the card, who took it and watched him awed and bewildered.

"Who?" She asked, and who was this man in front of her, the energy was the same, but he was different, calm, and passionate at the same time, something had happened to him, she had so many questions.

"Your sister."


	52. Chapter 52: Coruscant

Mitka and the rest of her squad stood at attention while the grand chancellor lamented her not bringing in General Rackton alive, wishing she could ransom him off back to the Empire. Mitka was biting her tongue so hard she tasted blood. She desperately wanted to know when this idiot had been put in power, and why she didn't remember voting. Mitka marched Havoc out of the opulent room having accepted the hollow medals of honor, she could feel her blood boiling, she really hated politicians.

General Garza dismissed them, Mitka waited until her squad was gone, Aric hung back waiting just outside the door.

"Yes Major? Anything else?" Her tough CO asked her.

"Actually General, I have a lead on a major imperial target." Mitka cut straight to the chase, it was how Garza operated.

The general closed the door, her lips set in a grim line. "Who's the target?" She asked in her clipped and stern voice.

"Darth Kozilek, the Emperor's Wrath." Mitka brought up the holo image of her biological mother. "I have her estates location."

"That location is on Drummond Kaas, Major. How did you expect to take out this target?" Mitka knew that tone, she was being shut down. Garza either didn't know about Var Suthra's potential strike, or, more likely, she was choosing to keep Havoc in the dark. Then there's the possibility that the bounty hunter was wrong. Someone was lying to her, though after her eighteen months in Havoc squad, she was more inclined to distrust the senate and command then a mercenary, even if that mercenary did kidnap her fiancé.

Mitka was going nowhere with her commanding officer. "Sir, just doing my part, if ever we do decide to invade Drummund Kaas…" Idiot.

"I'll pass the intel on to the proper Jedi authorities, was there anything else Major?" Garza's voice had taken on a decidedly condescending tone.

"No sir." Mitka replied through grit teeth and burning ears. Idiot, idiot, idiot. Mitka saluted smartly and left the room.

Aric fell in step beside her, keeping silent until they cleared the senate tower. He knew just by looking at her that Garza wasn't playing ball.

"I take it we're on our own for this project?" He's met with a short nod, and frowning lips.

"Yeah." She sighed, which meant that her squad wouldn't be getting their marching orders from Garza, which would raise certain alarms for at least two in her squad. "Dorne and Yuun are out. Vik is in, and I think 4X would jump at the chance at tearing up as much of Drummund Kaas as he can." Jaxo would be in she thought to herself sadly.

"Balkar" Aric said. He saw the surprise in Mitka's eyes that he even suggested the SIS agent. "He's a cocky sob, but he's had our backs right from the start, and he's no fan of Garza. Just think about it, I think he could help us." Mitka nodded slowly, Aric was right. She just wasn't sure if he was a fan of hers anymore. Balkar and Jaxo had been close, intimatly close, Mitka had given the order that had killed her. She wasn't sure if Jonas had forgiven her yet, or if he even could.

"First things first, let's get to that meeting, there's not even a guarantee there will be a strike or that our target will even be on the planet. There are a lot of unknowns here, I'll feel a lot better after talking to mom and seeing who this employer of hers is. I've never known her to work for anyone but herself." Mitka says exasperated, she hated the unknown.

They passed by a flower vendor on the way to the taxi hub, Aric stopped to buy her a sunflower, the bright yellow petals matching her eyes. They walked hand in hand in their dress uniforms, Mitka holding the large yellow flower.

"There's a little chapel around the corner, with a nice old Jedi. Let's get married." He grabs her hand and pulls her close.

"My father would kill us!" Mitka replies, but she considers the idea.

"Didn't you tell me your parents eloped? You're mom marrying them on the bridge of her ship? Why shouldn't we? I mean unless you want the big wedding and the white dress." He laughs when Mitka makes a face.

In the end they decided to wait, Mitka arguing that her mother could marry them, and it would make her dad happy. They rented a small but comfortable Corellian corvette and loaded what few belongings they have into their temporary new home. Mitka puts her sunflower in a tall glass full of water, deciding it makes the ship homey. They striped out of their uniforms, out of their ranks and protocol, Mitka put away her doubts and misgivings about what was to come and simply enjoyed being able to be alone, utterly alone with the man she loved. She remembered the last time it had just been the two of them, it seemed so long ago, and she had been so intimidated by the hardened and angry soldier by her side. The soldier she was supposed to command, her only squad mate. She was sitting on his lap now as he taxied out of the Corucanti atmosphere, the hardened and angry soldier smiled and laughed quite a bit she had learned. When they broke orbit, and he had plotted the Hyperspace jump he picked her up and brought her to the tiny Captains quarters, the bed the only piece of furniture, it was all they needed.


	53. Chapter 53: The Star Chamber

Ainsley watched through the wall sized window as her tough old ship, the Weather Light taxied into the hangar bay. She was on pins and needles, anxious to see her sons. She hadn't seen Cohen since the night before he stole her ship, and the last time she saw Aaron was before his last deployment. Her heart was aching to see her boys. She was biting her nails when Corso came in, gently taking her hand in his and squeezing it. Mitka had confirmed she was in the system but still a good six hours out, Ainsley would have her entire family in one place for the first time in three years. She wished it was for a different reason, she knew she had a lot of explaining to do to both her husband and her kids, especially Cohen, who was more like her then he realized.

She vaulted herself down the steps into the hangar two steps at a time waiting for the gangplank to lower, Aaron was the first to come out. Serious face, only more than serious, troubled and angry, she saw his face contort, as her sensitive boy fought back whatever emotions where plaguing him, relief swept over his features. She was wrapped up in his bear hug in a matter of seconds. When she pulled back she looked him over, running her hands over his arms and shoulders, taking inventory of him, making sure he was still in one piece. Once satisfied she pulled him back into her embrace, kissing him on each cheek.

The red head Oriah was next to exit, her bright blue eyes puffy and blood shot. She was so young, Ainsley thought to herself, couldn't be more then 19. Without thinking she gave the girl a hug, she looked like she could use one, she looked so much like her father, Ainsley clenched her jaw and gave the girl a hard squeeze, she would tell her in good time. Oriah answered the affection by returning the hug, all be it weakly.

"You alright kid?" Ainsley asked, ever the mother, with a look of genuine concern. Oriah glanced quickly at Aaron, who had his back to her, quietly talking to Corso.

"Yes, thank you. Captain Isiz correct?" Oriah replied, seeming to remember herself as she straightened her back and blinked back whatever was troubling her.

"Call me Ainsley." She gave the girls shoulder a squeeze, so much like her father.

Ainsley glanced up the gangplank, Cohen stood there, hands deep in his pockets, eyes downcast seemingly studying the pattern the old metal made. Ainsley felt her heart constrict, he was five years old again, caught red handed with his hand in the cookie jar. Something had happened on the ship between these three, it was obvious. Any residual anger she had at her younger wayward son dissipated when he finally managed to look his mother in the eyes. She walked up the gangplank to meet him.

"I'm sorry mom." Was all he managed to whisper when she wrapped him up in a big hug. "I messed up bad…I'm sorry."

Ainsley was surprised when she felt his shoulders start to shake, her Cohen who was always so quick with an excuse or a charming apology. She gripped him more tightly, absently smoothing out the cowlick on the back of his head like she had done when he was a boy.

"Oh sweetheart." She didn't know what to say to him, she just held onto him tightly as he got a hold of himself. Her guilt flared, she should have told him, should have explained, but until he disappeared in the night with her ship, there had never been a reason to.

"Here." He handed her the last two cubes, then wiped his eyes roughly with the back of his hands.

Mother and son finally descended the gangplank together, Ainsley noticed the glares her son was getting from both the petit red head and his brother. Corso's arms were crossed in front of his chest with that same look he used to get when Cohen's teachers would call the house when he skipped class. Disappointment.

"What did you do?" Ainsley murmured to her clearly uncomfortable son.

"I wasn't much of a brother." He glanced at Oriah, "or friend…or son for that matter. Each family needs one right? A screw up?" He tried the weak joke, and was met with silence. "Tough crowd."

"I ought to knock you on your hide son, Force knows you deserve it." Corso finally spoke to his second son, his problem child. He loved him, but he was also the reason for most of his grey hair. "What in Galaxy's name possessed you to steal your own mothers ship?"

Cohen was back to staring at the floor, feeling three feet tall. "Dad, I'm sorry."

"Did you even care how worried your mother was? How worried I was? Did it even cross your mind to let us know you were alive?" Corso threw his hand up in the air, paced a few steps then hugged Cohen fiercely, unable to stay angry with his children for long. "You pull a stunt like that again and you will be missing teeth from that charming smile of yours." He clapped him hard on the back.

"I'm going to go bring these to Scorpio, Corso, get the boys and Oriah settled in some rooms." Ainsley gave Cohen's arm a squeeze while he pleaded with his eyes for her to stay, his only ally. Love him as she did, he needed this. She wouldn't shield him from fair and deserved words or consequences, all she could do was love him. It had taken her a long time to learn the lessons he was learning, and it wasn't until she and Corso had started getting serious that she had truly taken a good hard look in the mirror and made a choice on the kind of person she would be. A hard thing for a Hunter, she had been bred to be fluid, be anyone, change who she was depending on the audience. To be remembered and forgettable, she had chosen to be herself. After years of digging and discovery with Corso beside her, she found out who that was, and there she had remained. Cohen would get there, in his own time.

Ainsley and Corso waited in the spacious and comfortably furnished meeting room, Ainsley was pacing, anxious, Corso watched her, his own questions in his head. Mitka and Aric had arrived an hour earlier, it was getting late but Ainsley wanted to talk to her family before they went to sleep. Her daughter was the first to arrive, followed by Aaron, then Cohen, finally Lokin arrived and closed the door. Lokin sat himself down in one of the plush chairs, Mitka and Aaron on opposite ends of a couch, Cohen stood near the door, leaning on the wall, Corso leaned on the opposite wall, Ainsley stood surrounded by her family.

"I don't know where to start, so I'll just start at the beginning. My name is not Ainsley Isiz, Ainsley Isiz was a young smuggler I killed almost thirty years ago, I assumed her identity." Ainsley took a deep breath.

"I am Hunter number 587. Hunters have existed for as long as the Star Cabal has existed. We are genetically engineered watchdogs and agents for the organization. My sisters and me, and every other Hunter that has ever been, is based off of a cloned copy of the first Hunter. Because clones tend to be weak and unhealthy, additional genetic material is added to the cloned ovum, producing stronger Hunters." She looked at Lokin who smiled and nodded.

"I myself am not a clone, but the result of selective breeding, you could say I'm only a quarter clone. Hunters are built, not born, we're grown in a petri dish, and then a kolto tank. All of our genetic material, or at least the best attributes, are integrated into the master copy, or the original clone. That way, should the main Hunter and her backups be killed in some way, a new clone is produced, and the breeding process starts all over again. The aim is to produce smarter, stronger, more agile, and finally , more complacent Hunters." Ainsley could feel the horror and disbelief in the room, she forced herself to meet each of her children's eyes. Although she couldn't bring herself to look at Corso.

"Doctor Lokin here is my biological father, he was a scientist working on the Hunter initiative for the Star Cabal in the old regime, as well as an embedded Imperial agent. Being a man of exceptional intelligence, and resilience as an Imperial Cipher agent, he donated his own genetics, and they were combined with a previous generations Hunters ovum, producing me and my sister. My sister was selected over me as the more desirable twin, to be trained as the next primary Hunter. I was found to be too independent minded, my mind not easily malleable or indoctrinated. I blame my father in this." She gave Lokin a knowing grin.

"She was also resistant to the experimental control serums that had been added to the master copy, it was supposed to add extra incentive to the Hunter to be loyal, and so they could be controlled more easily, up until Ainsley it had been working as intended. I was asked to install her cybernetics instead, a poor replacement to the biological solution her system was rejecting. The serum was extracted from the master copy, as unreliable. I was to find a better way when our now current leader, Shiloh, brought down the old regime. She is also very much morally opposed to such control measures." Lokin added both seriously and genially. He did not let on his opposition to Shiloh's ideals, nor that he thought he had found the replacement he had been charged to find all those years ago.

Ainsley watched as the people she loved most digested the information she had just given them. That their mother, and wife was the results of a century spanning science experiment. She suddenly felt very scared and alone, afraid they would reject her. Corso finally came up to her, putting his arms around her.

"You'll always be Ainsley to me, you're my wife, and I love you, and I don't care how you came to be, I'm just glad you exist and that we met." He kissed her softly.

The Riggs children considered their mothers words, asked questions about the Star Cabal, Ainsley's childhood, and those who raised her. Ainsley did her best to answer, echoing Shiloh's vision for the revived secret society. Mitka gave her mother a hearty hug and kissed her cheeks, Aaron was somber needing time to process and review the information, he embraced his mother, the beating heart of their family. He would have more questions later, but for now he just needed to feel her near him, and smell her familiar smell, she was still "mom" regardless of where she came from.

Eventually the lateness of the hour drove all but Cohen and Ainsley from the room, he had remained silent through it all, thoughtful frown on his handsome face. He finally sat down heavily on the couch beside his mother.

"That control serum the doctor was talking about, it was intended to become a genetic trait, right? Is it possible, even if it didn't work with you, that you could have passed it down?" He was looking straight ahead as he spoke, a mixture of anger and fear tinged his voice.

"It's possible." Ainsley answered, her smart boy, she knew he would figure it out.

"Don't you think this is something you should have told us about?" He looked at her accusingly.

"Up until the day I heard about Risha's death, there was never any reason, it never manifested itself. You and Aaron were always independent, always knew your own minds. How could I have guessed it had affected you, YOU, my strong willed boy. The only way you ever learned anything was by doing, and learning from your mistakes, it didn't matter how much advice or warning me or your dad gave you, you did it anyways." She tried to take his hand, he flinched. "I thought you were safe from the worst of my genes. That all you got was that hair and my stubbornness. If I had known…I would have told you Co."

"All I wanted was to find a job, make a quick buck so I could buy myself a ship. When that Ratattaki, Kaliyo." Cohen squeezed his eyes shut, seeing her pale corpse ripped apart on the floor. "It's like, I couldn't stop, she mentioned the Star Cabal, and I had to see where the rabbit hole went, I couldn't stop. When I was stealing your ship, I was screaming at myself, but my fingers did it anyways. I wanted to stop when I heard about Risha. I wanted to come home, but I couldn't stop, mom I couldn't stop myself, even when I wanted to. I thought I was going crazy, to find out now that I was born with this compulsion. Every time I wanted out, it's like I started living outside my own skin." He ran his hands through his blonde hair, thick and honey coloured just like his mother.

"Now that you know, now that you're here, how do you feel, are you still being pulled?" She asked quietly, wanting so badly to offer him comfort, knowing better and offering space instead.

"Good." Cohen laughed a bitter laugh. "I mean, apart from the guilt and self hate for having treated everyone I care for like dirt to get here. I feel good, less anxious, like I belong and have purpose. It's weird, I feel at home here, even more so then at the ranch, and it hasn't even been twenty four hours."

"Cohen, I'm here for you, even if you don't like me very much right now, I'm here to answer any questions, you can ask Doc Lokin to, he's better with the science behind it. I love you sweetheart, I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you through it." She stood up, so she could leave him alone with his thoughts.

"Mom?" Cohen called out when she reached the door. "If you knew all this about yourself, why did you have kids, it doesn't make sense?"

Ainsley looked back at her second son, the one she had so vehemently opposed having. Aaron had been unplanned, one of Corso's swimmers got past the usual protection and Ainsley had been terrified the entire time. Scared of what her genetics would produce, not having a mother or sister or anyone to talk to, tell her what was normal, what wasn't. When he was born, he was perfect, and looked like his dad, and Ainsley fell in love. Then Corso wanted another, and Ainsley didn't want to explain why she didn't, why she was so scared, because that would mean tearing down the lies she had built around her, it meant the possibility of losing not only Corso, but Aaron to. She got lucky once, she couldn't get away with normal twice, could she? Then they moved to the ranch, and life was boring and normal and peaceful. Corso told her about growing up with his siblings, and wore down her resolve, and she was safe, her sister was dead, and she was still hidden. It was ok, her children would be ok, so she gave in, and agreed to one more, and her blue eyed boy full of mischief was born. She looks back now, not able to imagine a life without them.

"The heart doesn't always make sense kiddo."


	54. Chapter 54: The Star Chamber

Aaron was up early, he threw on an old basic training t-shirt, his sweats and running shoes. He had tossed and turned the night before, his punching bag was still on the Light, and he needed to think. He told the service droid to bring him breakfast in an hour as he headed out the door. He needed to feel his blood pumping in his veins, he was thinking hard about what his mother had shared the night before. The implications, from what little she had told them of the Star Cabal he knew that they had come into conflict with the Republic before, and they would again, he wasn't sure how that made him feel. He wasn't sure where his loyalties were anymore.

Loyalties, that was something else, his mind rounded on his brother as he picked up the pace his feet slapping the hard metal of the hallway. He knew deep down he loved Cohen, he had to, but he was still angry. No it wasn't Cohen he was angry with, Aaron had expected a move like that from the moment the three of them had boarded the ship. Aaron wasn't even angry with Oriah, disappointed, hurt, jealous, but not angry. She was a big girl, she could make her own choices, and obviously Aaron wasn't who she wanted, although he wished he was. He had been so sure there had been something between them, something more, that spark. He was angry with himself, for letting his guard down, for letting her in. Aarons muscles were burning as he skipped up the stairs into the upper mezzanine of the space stations central ring. He was angry for being fooled, for thinking a girl like her, with brains like that, with that kind of smile would have ever been interested in him. He had tried going up against his brother once, for a girl when they were kids, he had lost then to.

Beads of sweat dripped off the tips of his hair, he should apologize to Oriah. She had been trying to talk to him, but he hadn't been ready to face her, to hear her tell him he wasn't the one for her. He stopped running then, breathing hard, hands braced on his legs. He had to stop, his mother, his career, his family, the whole galaxy potentially was on the verge of something big, important, and all his thoughts could do was round back to Oriah. He walked back to his room, he would take a shower, eat, then go find her. He needed closure, he needed to hear her say there was nothing between them so he could move on and figure out where his place was in this big mess.

Oriah was up early, a droid having delivered her some breakfast in her room. She felt awkward, as if she was intruding by being in this place. She ate in silence, desperately missing the early morning companionship between her and Aaron. Ever since he had seen her and Cohen kissing, Aaron had been avoiding her, locking himself in the cargo hold of the Weather Light, she had heard him boxing, abusing the old weathered punching bag. It was all a mess, Cohen had left her alone, not apologizing but not pursuing her either. Oriah had spent time crying, confused by her own emotions, angry at the way everything had turned out. She was inexperienced, she lacked the words to explain, and worst of all is that she felt like she had lost two dear friends, which hurt the most.

She threw on some comfortable pants and her boots, put her long hair in a low pony tail, and a simple white button down shirt and a warm sweater. She decided to go exploring in the early morning hours. She didn't meet anyone as she walked. She took the lift to the top floor of the space station which was a giant reinforced clear dome, with a perfect view of the Dark Nebula that Cohen had shown her. The floor was comfortably furnished, tables and couches and plush chairs, in the far corner was a bar with a powered down serving droid. She imagined this room was used as a lounge or bar at some point, she went to the far end of the room and perched herself on a comfortable chair, pulling her legs in and resting her chin on her knees.

Oriah heard the lift slide open and someone walk in. They walked towards her taking the chair across from her.

"Oriah Quinn!" Dr. Eckard Lokin declared congenially. "I knew your father, he was a brilliant man. I was truly saddened that we weren't able to save him."

"I'm sorry?" Oriah asked quizzically, her father, so far as she knew had been dead for sixteen years.

"Your father Malavai Quinn, he was with Shiloh when Ainsley and I went to retrieve her from that Imperial prison on Nar Shaddaa, what's it called…Shadowtown. I truly did my best, but he was ill, and his body wasn't able to withstand the surgery to remove the cranial explosive. He would have been an asset to the organization." Lokin explained to the girl, she was supposed to have a sharp mind, though he supposed she wouldn't have had any reason to doubt the official records.

"He was alive? All this time?" Was it possible to grieve for a person she barely remembered twice?

"Yes, yes, never trust the official line, especially in the Empire, it's almost always a lie, or a cover up." He spoke dismissively waving his hand in the air, and then gave her another brilliant smile, "I wanted to talk to you about you're academy grades, you seemed to favor biology and languages. Diplomatic corp?"

"Diplomatic corp or medical would have been my preferred choices yes, though my mother and grandfather had me slated to go to Intelligence, I was being groomed for the Watcher program." She narrowed her eyes at him, not trusting him.

"Of course, you even had a natural aptitude without any genetics tampering, impressive indeed. Just like your father." He gave her a warm smile, she was perfect. "Forgive me, I'm not a young man anymore, I'm not able to do as much as I once did, and I find myself in need of an assistant, an intern if you will, and I find myself with a perfect candidate sitting right in front of me. It would be mostly medical work, some slicing, would you be interested?"

"I…I suppose…" Oriah's head was reeling.

"Wonderful, come to my lab, at your leisure, I'll show you around my current projects, we wouldn't want a mind like yours to be idle for long. It's a muscle you know, it needs to be exercised." He patted her gently on the knee. "Just ask Scorpio where to find it, she'll let me know you're coming."

Oriah nodded her head absently, she was looking for a purpose here. Perhaps he knew more about her father. Something about Doctor Lokin made her feel uneasy, though her judge of character was terrible as she had recently discovered, it was worth hearing him out she decided.

"Wait who's Scorpio?" She turned but he had already left down the lift.

"I am the Star Cabals defense system, I am also this space stations integrated systems, I am available to assist you with your inquiries." A deep feminine voice sounded across the domed room, as if coming from space itself.

Oriah startled, "Where would I be able to find Dr. Lokins lab?" She asked tentatively into the empty space.

"Fifth floor, lab thirty two dash B."

"Thank you."

"You are welcome Oriah Quinn."

Aaron nearly knocked Aric over he was so pre-occupied rehearsing what he was going to say to Oriah in his head, convincing himself he wasn't heading towards humiliations, they were friends.

"Geez, sorry sir." Aaron said as he steadied the Cathar on his feet.

"Hey, we're both on leave, don't sir me here, and besides we'll be brothers soon, just call me Aric." The Cathar offered with a friendly smile.

"That's right! Mitka told me, congratulations sir…Aric." Aaron chastised himself, they weren't even in uniform. "Don't suppose you've seen Oriah floating around? I checked her room but she wasn't there."

"Can't say that I have. Mit! You see Oriah around this morning?" He called out to his fiancée as she emerged from their shared room.

"When would I have seen her?" she replied sarcastically with a little wink. She gave Aaron a hug, "Sorry big guy."

Mitka turned her attention to Aric, "I don't know why we need to meet them at the hangar."

"Because it's polite."

"Well she wasn't very polite when she fucking kidnapped you."

"Mit, when are you going to let that go?"

"I'm sorry but I'm not about to just forgive her, even if she does have that nice new Blastech rifle…ok, I might forgive her if she lets me play with that thing, and her flame thrower…You think she'll let me try out her flame thrower?"

Aaron heard Aric laugh as they got onto the lift heading to the hangar bay. Aaron smiled despite himself, he was happy for his sister, after everything she had been through she deserved to be happy, and she had found a good match in Aric Jorgan he had decided. He doubled back to the lift to try a different level, the space station was a maze, and with so few people it was easy to get lost. He was looking at his hands, reciting what he wanted to say to Oriah in his head when the lift door opened and he came face to face with her.

"Aaron!" Oriah blinked, trying to guard her expression but failing, she smiled shyly.

"Oriah." Suddenly he was drawing a blank. She was smiling at him and it felt good, the lift door nearly closed in his face, he stepped in at the last minute.

"Aaron, I'm sorry, what you saw, it was unkind." Oriah started, not knowing how to explain, how to tell him.

"No Oriah, I'm sorry, I acted like a baby, I had no right to get upset…." He said gently.

"There is nothing between Cohen and me! The kiss, it was wrong, it was with the wrong brother. I'm sorry you were hurt, I've been trying to tell you…" She shook her head, too shy to look him in the eye.

"Wait what?" Aaron stopped dead in his thoughts, positive something in his brain misfired. "What do you mean wrong brother?"

"I mean, it wasn't Cohen I wanted to be kissing." She forced herself to meet his intense dark gaze, then smiled at the bewildered look on his face.

"So if it wasn't Cohen you wanted to be kissing…me?" Smooth.

Oriah nodded, grinning like an idiot, then suddenly fear gripped her, what if he didn't want to. It was a needless fear, Aaron took a step closer hand brushing hair out of her face, he was grinning just as hard as she was, neither sure how to break the silly awkward happiness. Finally Oriah put her arms around his neck lifting herself up on her toes tilting her head back, blue eyes shining, her lips flush and full. It was all Aaron needed, he lowered his lips to hers. It was a slow tentative kiss, Aaron, still thinking he was dreaming. One of her hands trailed up and down his neck, he wasn't dreaming, he exhaled as he gathered her closer to him, her slight body soft and pliant molding against him. She felt good there, she tasted sweet and smelled like vanilla, he ran a hand through her hair, soft and thick. He didn't want to let her go, afraid he would wake up. The lift stopped, swishing open. They reluctantly broke apart.

"Meet me for lunch?" Oriah asked breathlessly

"Count on it." Aaron replied stunned, biting the corner of his lip.

Oriah stepped off the lift, smiling at him and giving him a little wave. When the lift closed she felt a sharp sting in her neck before her world went black.


	55. Chapter 55: Voss

Shiloh ran, she didn't want to go back to Voss Ka, she didn't want to de-activate her stealth generator, she didn't want to see the blood. She eventually came to a stream where she washed her hands and face, she applied kolto to her broken nose, and with a vicious yell, set it back in place. The blood wouldn't come off her clothing, and her spare set was at Phi Ton's house. She looked at the time, late evening, the tea house would still be open, she would be able to sneak in without him seeing her sin. Reluctantly she made her way back to the city.

Voss Ka was dark and the streets were quiet in the cool wet evening, the populace preferring to stay warm and dry. Still, Shiloh only unstealthed when she reached the house. She pulled the key Phi Ton had given her and cursed inwardly when she noticed the dry spattered blood on it. It felt like blasphemy to bring blood and murder into this house. This was a place to be respected, it was a holy place, and Shiloh defiled it with her very presence. She peeled her clothing off, careful to not let it hit the ground, she placed it all in her bag. She then went to the shower, and made the water nearly unbearably hot, she stepped under the spray, wincing slightly before she got used to the heat. She washed herself, her bright blue skin heating and turning a shade of purple red under the hot water and her scrubbing.

Kianna sat in the sparse room the Voss mystics had given her and her crew, five bedrolls in a windowless stone room. It was crowded, and the energy was stifling, thick with unspoken words. Scourge had kissed her in front of the rest of the crew and now Kianna was getting those all too familiar judgmental and slightly condescending looks. She needed some air. It was late dusk with the sky ablaze in reds and purples. Kianna looked down towards the path, blushing, the very nature of this place taunted her desires. The more she thought about it, the more anxious she grew, he was a whole man, she could feel it, she could feel his power, stronger then she had ever sensed in the past. His heart beat like a drum, that smoky dark energy that encircled him rippled like water around him, in constant motion, it was hypnotic and seductive, and dangerous. The Jedi code felt far away, the words felt abstract, something else, more powerful was pulling her down a path she both longed for and feared. She arrived at the ancient Jedi statue, the stone pock marked by time, but the face was still serene and peaceful.

Kianna knelt in meditation, trying to calm her excited and dancing energy, trying to center herself. His essence invaded her space, she inhaled deeply, releasing her own restlessness into him, water and smoke.

"Did I anger you?" His voice came from behind her, mocking, testing.

"No." She replied quietly, eyes closed, body relaxed in front of the statue.

"You're right, it's not anger, it's fear. Do you fear me Jedi?" She could hear the smile behind his lips, her spine roared inside her body. She bit her lip when his hands came to rest on her shoulders, thumbs tracing lazy circles on her sapphire neck.

"No, I don't fear you. I fear what I will become if I allow this." Kianna spoke gently, he was kneeling behind her, one hand dropped circling her waist, the other hand resting heavy but gentle over her heart. She felt his chest pressed against her back.

"Tell me Kianna, what will you become if you allow this?" His voice was dark, thick, testing her, always testing her, ever the teacher even now there was a lesson to learn. Kianna could feel the warm metal of his facial bead against her neck as he lowered his lips down its length. He felt her heart quicken under his hand.

"I fear I will become Sith." She gasped out, allowing him to pull her closer, his dark smoky energy descending on her like a fog on a lake.

Scourge sat back on the ancient stone altar, pulling Kianna into him so that she sat with her legs entwined in his, "Is that so terrible?" His hand was still over her heart, "the force shall free you Jedi. Are you so indoctrinated that you would resist freedom, it is the calling of every sentient in the known universe, to be free, only you Jedi resist what nature intends."

Kianna twisted herself in his arms, in one fluid motion she managed to wrap herself around him face to face, she didn't answer his lesson today, she didn't try to justify anything. She kissed him as the last of the red sky was chased away by the dark of night. His soft full lips gave way to hers, and he pulled her in. His hands were on her back, on her hips, in her hair, she felt herself get enveloped. The Jedi code was so far away when he lifted her in his arms then laid her down in the tall grass under the purple Voss sky, the winking stars the only witnesses to their passion and need.

Shiloh read the message again, Kianna would be there at any moment, she checked the clock again. It had been a week since the bloody fight, a week since she had seen the architects of her torment dead. Yet she still felt the blood sticky on her fingers, every time she stepped into the shower it circled around the drain.

"Drink this wife." Phi ton placed the fine bone china cup in front of her. He was saddened that her trip to the shrine had done little to mend her. Saddened that she seemed worse, he had found the hidden bag full of bloodied clothing, he did not understand her life, nor did he try to, she followed a destiny, just as he followed his. His heart ached at the thought of losing her again.

"Thank you." She managed a weak smile for the gentle soul who called himself her husband. The door opened and she knew before she turned it was her sister. She felt frozen in place, she forced herself to meet the woman her gentle seven year old sister had become.

"Shiloh?" Kianna asked the older and scarred Chiss. The moment their eyes met she knew. Her breath caught in her throat, what had happened to her?

"Kianna." Shiloh stood, her skinny awkward sister had come into her beauty as an adult, tall and lithe, confident. She wore a long black and grey robe, with heavy armor underneath and a saber at her hip.

Kianna closed the gap between them and hugged her older sister. "Shiloh, what happened?"

Shiloh pulled back leading her sister back to the table and started the long painful story. Phi Ton brought them tea and they talked long into the day. When they parted Shiloh had her missing data cube, and her sister again. Kianna felt drained but happy, her sister hadn't abandoned her, but her heart ached for the obvious pain she was in. Shiloh was good at guarding her emotions but there was no masking the sadness and pain that she carried with her.

"Do you trust them?" Shiloh asked as they left the tea house and headed towards the shuttle landing pad. "The Jedi council and the Republic military, do you trust them?"

The truth of the matter was that she didn't, the council hadn't supported her or looked to her best interest after the escape from the Emperor's fortress. As for the military, she needed only look at the fact that they had funded any of 's works to get her answer. She let her silence answer her sister. Shiloh gave her an encrypted private holofrequency and coordinates.

"Do you trust him?" Shiloh asked about Lord Scourge.

"Yes." She thought it was strange that out of everyone, the Jedi, the Republic, her own crew, the one person she trusted above all others was a Sith. She knew how he would admonish her, but he was the only one to have ever been honest with her, his vision revealed her to be the weapon that would kill the Emperor, yet he was the only one to truly treat her as an individual, and not an instrument of destruction.

They stood in front of the shuttle, Lord Scourge waiting, alongside another Jedi, a human, a droid and a changrian.

"May the force be with you sister." Shiloh spoke the Jedi words, but she meant them. Force preserve her, the last of her family, Force guide her through the impossible task she had been asked to do.

"And you Shiloh. I'll call you when this is all over." She hugged her older sister one last time before turning towards her crew and climbing up the steps into the shuttle.


	56. Chapter 56: Drummond Kaas

Lord Kaervrek looked over his shoulder and gripped his lightsaber, he was being followed. One by one his agents were falling. He took another turn inside the depths of the citadel, his red knuckles were white in his grip. He rounded another corner, then another, he went through a list of his rivals, he had crushed them all eons ago, any new upstarts hoping to take over Intelligence did not have the power to challenge him. Still he was running from a hidden assailant, his heart was beating out of his chest, he was gripped by fear. Lord Kaervrek had not felt fear in decades, he caused fear. So why was this particular emotion dogging him, he finally stopped running in a small alcove and waited to face what chased him. The halls were deathly quiet, the footsteps he thought he heard had been silenced. Still his cooling sweat chilled him, his breathing too loud, the hum of his lightsaber filling the void casting a red glow against the walls.

"Lord Kaervrek, our master requests your presence." The slim robed pureblood spoke.

Kaervrek spun around, behind him stood two nearly identical small robed Sith. The fear wormed its way back into his spine.

"The father will be reborn." The second spoke cryptically.

"Who are you?" Kaervreks voice felt distant, as if disembodied.

"Honored servants of the Emperor, our Lord has great plans for you." The first spoke again before the two small men lifted their arms in unison. Together they manipulated the fear that the Emperor had planted in Kaervrek. His agents had not fallen by the hand of an unknown rival, but by his own hands, memories of his actions swept into his mind as he systematically destroyed his power base.

"What? What have you done?" Kaervrek blanched.

"We have done nothing, you have done the will of the Emperor. You are to be honored for your deeds."

"The master binds father, binds daughter." The second cackled manically.

Lightning cracked in the small space, Lord Kaervrek fell, the steps that had been following started their rhythmic pace again, a moment later two honor guard appeared and placed his unconscious body on the gurney.


	57. Chapter 57: Fury Class Starship

Rateah leaned forward on the holo terminal, Marek sat down in one of the chairs behind her. Neither spoke, the paranoid and nonsensical message from Lord Kaervrek echoing in the space between them. The ship sat hidden in a Dark Nebula. Just beyond was a large space station, they had seen both Imperial and Republic ships dock, it was where they had followed Oriah. They had literally stumbled into it, even now it didn't show up on their sensors, but there it was slowly rotating in space. They had seen the heavy turrets, Teah had no doubt this was the answer to her Masters long search, this was the power center of the Star Cabal, but now he was calling them back to Drummund Kaas. It was just as well, as they were there was no way of infiltrating the space station.

"My mother should know of this development." Marek said quietly.

"I thought of that, there haven't been any replies from either her or Captain Pierce's frequencies." Rateah's hands turned to fists. She didn't mention that the Dark Council was also looking for the Wrath, her absence was palpable. She finally turned towards Marek, his face was scowling, he absently rubbed his facial ridges.

"My grandfather has lost his wits, my sister is safely buried in that floating fortress, and my mother is missing. If that message is true, it means that the Eldrazzi power base is crumbling, if anyone is going to over throw my grandfather it will be me." Marek stood up, his ambition shining through his eyes.

"I agree, but first we need to figure our way through this web. I'll set a course for Drummond Kaas." Rateah felt her own pull, was it possible to both love and hate a man? Kaervrek had been her teacher, her mentor, her master, had always been so strong. His wild eyes, his obvious fear and paranoia had been so unlike him, his desperate voice had filled her with disgust and the part of her, the wild part, the part he had never been able to tame and mold to his will, smiled wickedly at the prospect of revenge.

Marek followed her to the bridge, he remained quiet and simply watched her small form as she flew the ship and keyed up the hyperspace lane that would bring them back to Imperial space. Once the stars were streaking before them she turned her pale grey eyes on him, her bruises had healed quickly with the help of kolto, she was beautiful again.

"What is it Marek?" She asked him wearily.

Ever since that moment in the medbay, he had given her a wide berth. They had spoken of nothing but the mission and left the other in relative peace. He had spent his nights thinking on her words, thinking of how he could earn the right to touch her. He had come to the hard realization that she was more than his equal, she had a blinding and brilliant intelligence, her manipulation of the Force far exceeded his own abilities. She did not let her emotions rule her, only fuel her and for the first time since he had met her, collard and angry in his grandfather's library, he saw her, not as a prize, but as a Sith.

"My arrogance has been a weakness." I don't want to be alone right now. "I have underestimated you, and overestimated myself." I'm sorry.

Teah raised an eyebrow at her impetuous and arrogant charge. She didn't sense the air choking lust or desire he usually exuded. She got up from the chair and stood in front of him, arms crossed in front of her, hip cocked to one side, so the Akk pup could learn.

"That almost sounded like an apology." She saw his Adams apple bob and his hands clench and unclench. "Don't make the same mistake twice and we may yet unravel this web we seem to be caught in." She held his golden gaze, "Come Marek, let's see if we can focus that power of yours."

She walked passed him to the cargo bay, shrugging off her upper robe as she went, picking up a vibrostaff and throwing twin training sabers to Marek.

"If you hope to take on a Lord or your grandfather, your dueling must improve, mind your surroundings work with more than just rage." She swept aside her skirt, she winked at Marek who was gripping his sabers so tightly his knuckles were white. She was in revealing leathers, she felt his eyes roam briefly before they found their way back to her face. She smiled darkly, control wasn't something Marek had practiced often.

"Use it, use the lust, the desire, use it against your enemies, use it to make you strong, because you are strong Marek." Teah spun the staff in her hands and went on the attack, she knew what motivated him, it was the same emotions that drove his grandfather. Kaervrek had well known appetites, he was a lecherous man, but he used it all to his advantage, his lusts and desires, when channeled through the force, are what made him the overwhelming power that he was. Marek was no different. Just as Kaervrek had sharpened her into the weapon she was, she would temper and mold Marek to be hers.


	58. Chapter 58: The Star Chamber

Oriah blinked, her head still heavy from the sedative, she wakes to discover her body is restrained and lying flat on a table. She blinks hard a few more times, desperately trying to clear her head, when her eyes finally focus she finds herself staring at a dimly lit kolto tank. Inside the tank floats a tiny human, a fetus, she twitches in the water no mask on her face, not kolto, something else then. Two more tanks with the same contents. Someone was growing people.

"Excellent you're up! Very prompt, I do appreciate punctuality in my assistants." Dr. Lokin spoke just out of view. His familiar cheerful voice filling her stomach with dread.

"What...is this?" Her tongue feels thick, fuzzy, her mouth numb.

"These are the next generation of Hunters! Remarkable beings, this crop is four weeks along, but thanks to accelerated growth they are gestationally six months old. Only lost one this time, I think these three might make it to full maturity." He proclaims proudly, finally entering her field of view, he smiles genially at her, as if sedating and restraining colleagues was common practice.

"Why?" Damn her mouth, and damn the sedatives, why was he doing this how many crops of humans had been grown? Why was she tied down?

"I'm terribly sorry Oriah, I think I may have misjudged your dose of sedative." A look of concern crosses his face as he brings a new syringe towards her necks, her fingers twitch and her eyes widen and she feels the familiar pinch as her artery is punctured. "Relax, it's just a stimulant, to help clear the cobwebs." He gives her arms a comforting pat, but his touch makes her skin crawl.

A moment later the fog that had surrounded her lifted, her mind sharp, her tongue was back to its regular size and her lips felt like her own again. Her lips, she bit them, how long had she been here, was Aaron waiting for her?

"Why am I restrained?" She asks as soon as she is able.

"Ah yes, that, pity really. My work here hasn't been sanctioned by our dear Shiloh, she doesn't agree with the Hunter initiative. It's naïve and foolish of her to rely solely on the loyalty of those around her, take me for example!" He pats his chest. "I am entirely untrustworthy, control, manipulation, bribery even, she refuses to use the necessary tools to ensure her position and success. She may not approve of my project, but it is for the survival and prosperity of the Cabal. Powerful, pliable and absolutely loyal soldiers to her cause, Hunters are remarkable creatures." He was staring into one of the converted kolto tanks.

"You didn't answer my question Doctor." Oriah asked, though she was becoming frightened of the possible answer.

"Dear me, rambling on, I do apologize. I have injected you with what is called Castellan restraints, it rewires certain cranial subroutines, that when used with a code word, will compel you to obey. I had the opportunity to observe Castellan restrains some years ago on Shiloh herself, highly effective, however she refuses to let go of her personal emotions and thinks using this tool is deplorable. She'll get nowhere if she is constantly ruled by her feelings and isn't practical about the tools at her disposal." He shook his head, a look of genuine concern on his wizened and white whiskered face. "Look at me rambling again, forgive an old man." He gave her a warm smile.

"Now! Oriah, keyword: Omnis. Thesh protocol, phase one."

"Thesh protocol engaged, key word Omnis accepted, shutting down." Oriah felt the words leave her mouth, followed by the world around her going dark once again.

"Excellent, excellent, wake up dear girl." Lokin was standing above her again, only this time her restraints had been removed, she sat up, her body stiff, her mind swimming, a voice inside her head screaming for her to run as far away as she could.

"How may I assist you Doctor?" What have you done? She had run from her mother to escape being controlled, to escape being a pawn, yet here she was, she wanted to scream and to cry.

"Just a few tests, reach your hands over your head." Lokin instructed, all the while a smile on his face, a smile that never reached his eyes, he was studying her, assessing her. She was just another experiment. Oriah's body obeyed each instruction. "Perfect, revert to phase zero, you may speak."

"Why?" It was the first word that she had spoken that was her own, there was anguish in her voice as tears prickled behind her eyelids.

"Shh, there's no need to be hysterical, as I have already mentioned, my work is secret, I do however need an assistant, I'm not as spry as I once was, you are brilliant in your own right, a perfect candidate to learn and carry on my legacies. Using the restraints, allows me to have an assistant without fear of reprisals. Don't be afraid, my instructions won't be unreasonable, your programming will only take effect if you attempt to discuss my work or your control mechanisms while outside of this lab. My other instruction for you is, key word: Invictus, You will arrive to the lab promptly at 0800 every morning, you may leave at 1800 every evening, unless I instruct you otherwise. See painless!" He clapped her affectionately on the back.

"Now, I've kept you long enough, off you go now, I'll see you in the morning. I truly look forward to working alongside you Oriah!" Lokin gave her one last genial smile then indicated to the door. Oriah fled the room, she could hear Lokin chuckling behind her.


	59. Chapter 59: Drummond Kaas

Cohen wasn't sure why he was here, that was a lie, he knew why, he still wasn't sure how he had been convinced. He looked over to the woman at his side, slight, with short black hair, cybernetics and a smile that could melt Hoth. He had been keeping his distance. Mako was her name, she was the bounty hunters. Things had started moving quickly when Avacynne and her crew had arrived on the space station. They added energy, dangerous and electric, to the assembled mess of people. Mitka was not a fan, which meant Aaron wasn't a fan, so of course Cohen had been intrigued from the start.

Only three days later Shiloh had returned with news, the Emperor's wrath was dead, Avacynne had been ready to walk. There was no money to be made, on both her old contract and now her new plans, she eyed each person assembled assessing potential bounties, and Cohen guessed her odds of survival. Then Shiloh had mentioned the Emperor, the Emperor's guard, and a number that had silenced any doubt. They need only wait for a call from Shiloh's Jedi sister.

While they waited Cohen had been guilted and coerced, by mother, father and sister. His honor appealed to, he was given a number, though it had been smaller than Avacynne's.

"Cohen can you cut the secondary code, these Imps have redundant firewalls, I'm still working on the first, but their tracking systems are fast." Mako jerked him out of his thoughts and he was brought back to the screen in front of him, and the keypad beneath his fingers. Mako was a slicer, but even more than that, her programs and viruses were art to him. His own fingers started working as he saw doorways and walls of code, he had always prided himself on his finesse, on how clean his own slicing was, but Mako made him feel like an amateur. He spotted the backups and redundancies being activated, and with stolen codes he locked them down. Whatever signals or warnings were being sent from the Dark Temple were being blocked, and any runners who came to the city to call for reinforcements would be flying into two trigger happy Mandalorians, and three bloodthirsty Republic Troopers.

"Get to another terminal, you have incoming." A voice rang in his ear piece, Gault.

With deft fingers Mako had covered their tracks and she fell instep beside him as they each did their best to not shiver against the driving rain. Cohen's borrowed uniform felt tight around his neck, but then, no one would think twice about two officers walking the Drummond Kaas streets in the rain.

"Anyone ever tell you that you look good in that uniform?" Mako looked sidelong at him with a wink.

"No, first time wearing it." Cohen failed to suppress a smile and tried his best to avoid those pretty green eyes. He didn't want to encourage anything, but she was making it hard. Memories of Oriah's angry face, and the sting of her hand on his face were still fresh in his memory, that and the fact that Aaron still glared at him kept his flirting in check, even if Mako was the one who started it.

"Well it's a good look for you, sir." There was that smile again, Cohen bit his tongue, banishing all kinds of inappropriate retorts.

"Thanks."

"You two are clear, but keep to the alleys, looks like they've started figuring something out, and they're rounding up all the guns, and people who can use them and are sending them towards Ava." Gault warned them.

They made for the shadows and rounded a corner following their map to the next terminal. Communications would be back up soon, and they needed to keep them down. When they reached the terminal pair of uniforms were waiting for them. A stern and frustrated Imperial turned towards them.

"I called for technicians, please tell me you can fix this mess. Comms are down and I can't make heads or tails out of this code." He saw them but didn't look.

"Yes sir, if you'll allow me to take a look." Cohen replied with a fairly decent Imperial accent. He heard Mako exhale. He went to the terminal, Mako followed. "Simple solution sir. I'll have this fixed up in no time." He heard a quiet piercing noise, then a grunt and a thud.

"Witherspear!" The other officer cried out as his colleague fell to the ground with a blaster bolt in the back. "There's a sniper!" When he stood up he came face to barrel with Cohen's blaster.

"I am aware, sir." Cohen pulled the trigger. The second Imperial fell, dead instantly. He felt his stomach lurch, Mako was giving him an unreadable look. He had never killed someone point blank and he could honestly say he didn't want to make it a habit.

"Thanks Gault." Mako spoke into her comm. "Nice accent." She said to Cohen, though her eyes had become hard, there was no wink or smile this time, as if the risk of their task had suddenly become very real.

Cohen didn't reply at all this time, the two slicers got to work. He wondered how Mitka and Aaron were faring, he wondered how the Jedi was doing, if she would be able to actually take out the Emperor. He shook his head as his fingers flew across the keypad, his mind seeing doors and secret passages in the computer code.


	60. Chapter 60: Drummond Kaas

Mitka vaulted over her cover, Aric's canon charges spraying beside her. She gripped her rifle in one hand as she used her other as a spring board as she jumped over another log that kept her from her goal.

* * *

"Repeat after me Aric" Ainsley said in the quiet of the observation deck, stars and nebula above them.

"I love you. You are my best friend. Today I give myself to you in marriage. I promise to encourage you and inspire you, to laugh with you, and to comfort you in times of sorrow and struggle. I promise to love you, in good times and in bad, when life seems easy, and when it seems hard, when our love is simple, and when it is an effort. I promise to cherish you, and to always hold you in highest regard. These things I give to you this day, and all the days of our lives." Aric spoke the words, hid heart swelled and he felt the fine fur below his eyes moisten. He coughed the lump in his throat away, and held fast to Mitka's hands.

* * *

Mitka ran as hard as her legs would carry her, the Imperial guard noticing her too late as she sprinted towards their leader, a tall thin Sith who commanded lightning.

* * *

"Repeat after me Mitka" Ainsley smiled at her daughter, in plain clothes under the stars, beside the man she loved, in front of her parents and brothers, and her new found sister. Ainsley had a job to do, an important task, the happy tears behind her eyes would have to wait a moment longer.

"I love you. You are my best friend. Today I give myself to you in marriage. I promise to encourage you and inspire you, to laugh with you, and to comfort you in times of sorrow and struggle. I promise to love you, in good times and in bad, when life seems easy, and when it seems hard, when our love is simple, and when it is an effort. I promise to cherish you, and to always hold you in highest regard. These things I give to you this day, and all the days of our lives." Mitka's voice broke, when Aric wiped away an errant tear.

* * *

Mitka crashed into the Sith, who broke his attack on the Changrian trooper, the soldier fell in a heap, Mitka did not have time to see if he lived. She fell in circles with the surprised Sith, she landed against the hard stone ground, her rifle bouncing out of her hands, she felt the rush of blood in her head, her pulse screaming in her ears. The Sith was back on his feet while she rolled towards her weapon, too late, as the Sith destroyed it with the flick of his fingers.

"Mitka, take this ring, as a sign of my faith and my commitment to our love, share this joy with me today." Aric slipped the delicate and simple band onto her finger, smiling down at her with his impossible green eyes, they glowed in the starlight.

"Aric, take this ring, as a sign of my faith and my commitment to our love, share this joy with me today." Mitka took the black steel ring and placed it on his finger caressing the fine fur of his hands, smiling now, her cheeks hurt but nothing in that moment could dull what she felt, tears streaked her red face, the happiest tears she had ever tasted.

"Kiss already!" Aaron called from behind them, and the newlyweds didn't need to be told twice.

* * *

Mitka grabbed the knife from her belt, and the other from her boot, the sith shocked her, the electricity intensified by the electronics in her armor shorting out her systems. She screamed in pain, and roared in rage, throwing off her helmet. The Sith stopped, taken aback for an instant. Mitka gave the other Pureblood a fang baring grin and forced her muscles to spring forward, the surprise and momentary pause giving her an opening, she slid one knife into a kidney, and the other just beyond his clavicle into the soft and tender flesh beyond. The Sith blinked up at her, eyes wild and questioning.

"Ab…abom…." He spoke through the blood in his throat

Mitka pulled her knife from his neck with a sickening sucking sound, and gave his red face a new smile, killing him in that instant. She spit on the now bleeding corpse before turning towards the trooper she had rushed to save. Aaron was beside him with a med kit. The mandalorians were dispatching the last remaining Imperial guard. They had a moment to breath before pressing forward.

"Never imagined honeymooning on Drummond Kaas. When this is all over I'm taking you to one of those nice resorts on Ithor." Aric took her face in his hands, scowling at the burn marks on her cheek ridges. "You alright? Sir?"

The blood was still rushing around in her head and ears, she blinked once and twice and took mental inventory of her injuries, nothing broken, a few burns, nothing some kolto gel couldn't fix. She nodded at her husband, whom she had married only twenty four hours earlier.

"I'm good." She gave him a fierce smile, he returned it with a wicked grin that showed off his sharp Cathar fangs.

"What are you two talking about? Nothing more romantic then a shared blood frenzy, it's how we celebrated our marriage." Ava sauntered up to them removing her own helmet revealing eerie empty sockets. Torian stood behind her with a half-smile and his own wild look in his eyes, the thrill of the hunt and the kill singing in his Mandalorian blood.

"How is he Aaron?" She called to her older brother who was helping the Changrian to a sitting position.

Aaron turned his still helmeted head towards her and gave her a nod. The Changrian turned towards giving her and the rest of the assembled team a once over. He struggled to his feet and gave her a shaky salute.

"Sir, didn't know Havoc had been called in, it's an honor Major. Sargent Fideltin Rusk."

"Havoc isn't here Sargent, you never saw them, am I clear?" Mitka eyed Rusk wearily, she knew him by reputation only, she had known some soldiers to call him Sargent death mark.

"Crystal, sir."

* * *

"Garza won't like this." Aric said as he counted his clips, and prepared his assault canon for the operation.

"Garza won't know." Mitka said as she prepped her own kit.

"She'll know if we don't come back"

Mitka stopped what she was doing and looked at her husband, fur still damp from their shared shower. They should be on their way to somewhere nice, somewhere they could celebrate on a beach drinking fruity drinks with their only obligations being when they would next make love.

"We should be on this op, we should have been ordered in, this is what Havoc was made for, exactly this type of mission. Garza should have called us." She clenched her fist, angry at the general. "One Jedi Knight, and her team, five people against the Sith Emperor in the heart of Imperial Space, how could we not help?"

"I know, I'm not arguing with you Mit. There isn't anywhere you lead where I won't follow, but there's going to be consequences." Aric laid his canon on the floor, and went to his wife, fire, fury and passion, but somehow with one of the kindest souls he had ever known. He wrapped his arms around her, her closeness causing him to stir.

"Again?" Her golden eyes danced with mischief, she checked the clock then gave him a sly smile. Aric was already pulling the thin tank top over her head as she worked his belt buckle. Twenty minutes would be more than enough time.

* * *

Mitka picked up her sparking and ruined rifle, it could be fixed, but not out in the field. The havoc symbol was still visible on it, she sighed as she planted a small charge on the rifle and took a few steps back. The charge went off, blowing the rifle to slag. No evidence. Aric handed her, her secondary rifle, she loaded it then nodded to the assembled group and pressed forward. Ava commed Blizz to let them know their movements and to keep the engines warm. They followed Rusk up the path towards the steps of the dark temple, and there at the foot of the stairs was a hulking and powerful Sith, destroying another squad of Imperial guard. When the last guard fell he lifted his head towards them, Rusk lifted a hand and the Sith nodded, cocking his head, curious at the sight. He caught Mitka's eyes, and she saw recognition in his face, not surprise or contempt. Mitka's skin crawled, she stood her ground despite the feeling of unease, she had not had this feeling with the Sith she had killed, she could feel this one's power, even to her it was palpable. He came to stand in front of her, ignoring Rusk's report, an appraising look on his face, a small amused grin on his lips.

"You have the look of your mother child." His voice was deep and still.

"So I've been told." She met his blood red eyes with a bright golden glare.


	61. Chapter 61: Drummond Kaas

Sith intelligence was buzzing with activity, but like a hive without it's queen, the absence of Lord Kaervrek had left the remaining, minders, fixers, watchers and ciphers directionless. The Sith that had been recruited to the cause were more concerned with the power vacuum and their own ambitions to pay any mind to the disturbing reports that were coming in from across the city. Communications were down , and now the bodies of an Imperial officer and a fixer had been found near a secondary communications relay.

"Keeper, your Sith commander is missing, some presume dead, and you hand me this." Rateah threw the investigation report at Keepers feet, who, to her credit, was standing stiff backed and eyes straight ahead, despite the angry welts that bloomed on her neck. "This is a farce, and an insult, do your job, or I'll find someone who can."

Heels snapped together with a smart click, and a low deferential bow, "yes my Lord."

Once Keeper had left Lord Kaervreks spacious office, Rateah turned her alabaster glare on Marek. She stalked him in slow circles, still so young and reckless. She pointed her long and smooth fingers to towards the door Keeper had just exited from.

"Think. Force choking the force blind head of Intelligence will get you nowhere. That woman is infinitely valuable, and her allegiance is better earned through cooperation and respect, then brute force. Your grandfather knew this, and if you hope to rule from this seat as he once did, you must learn restraint. Fear is a flawed tool, temper it with respect from your subordinates and you will go far." Teah observed the younger Siths jaw clench and unclench, his copper skin darkening to a wine red, his eyes boring golden holes in the window beyond her shoulder.

"The report…" He forced out.

"Was insufficient, I agree, and we will discover the truth surrounding your grandfather, I promise you. Flying into rages will solve nothing if all you're left with are the corpses of your best operatives." Rateah briefly contemplated taking Sith Intelligence for herself, Kaervrek had groomed her from childhood, she understood the language of subterfuge and deceit. The subtle game of words and manipulations was her home, and yet, even as a fully recognized Sith, she would not hold it for long. Her history as a slave and being an alien, would always deny her any overt position of power. Marek had the blood, and the legitimate claim to his grandfather's holdings, inexperienced as he was. He loved her, that much she knew, albeit obsessive in nature, he desired her and respected her, she could lead from the shadows.

"My Lords." They were interrupted by a tall and slim youth with nearly unblinking eyes and a serious sullen look to him, watcher eighteen. "There has been a security breech in the city."

Rateah followed Marek to the operations room, where a giant screen blinked a constant stream of information. A map of the city filled the center of the screen where three blinking lights in separate sectors warned of inactive services. In the time it took to absorb the information a forth light began to blink.

"Report" Marek said, his black hair tinted blue in the light of the holo map, his piercings and face ornaments shimmering in the light. Teah had convinced him of simple utilitarian black armor instead of his preferred cape and spikes he thought instilled fear.

"My Lord, we now have confirmation that two of our teams have been neutralized by an unknown assailant. We have done as you asked and suspended all air and space traffic, though with the communications array down it has been difficult to enforce. We have been able to confirm the final report before we lost communications that there are indeed Republic cruisers in orbit, fleet outnumbered them three to one." Keeper took the data pad from watcher eighteen.

"We also have confirmed reports that two unidentified light cruisers entered the atmosphere prior to communications loss, worst case scenario is a Republic strike force. Two squads were sent to the projected landing sights, neither has reported back."

"It's too small to be an invasion force, they would have sent more ships down if that were the case." Marek brought a hand to his chin and narrowed his eyes at the map of the city, he turned briefly to Rateah who was standing a pace behind him, her full lips smiled slightly, she was pleased, and Marek held himself straighter. She was always telling him to think, to look below the surface, to marry instinct with information. If it was too good to be true, it probably was.

"They're after something." Rateah offered, Marek had a look she had seen many times over, though never on him. His mind was working, she dared not lecture or undermine him in public, for once she didn't need to. When she saw him smile she knew he came to the next logical question.

"Show me the projected landing sites." He demanded quickly, puzzle pieces snapping into place. Two bright green lights appeared on the map. They were well away from the city, in the jungle. "Widen the map." The map fell back revealing more jungle, and uneven topography until a familiar imposing structure appeared on the screen.

Rateah took a step to stand beside him, and ran her eyes over the familiar jungle paths, "Keeper, has there been any notable movements among the Sith as of late, council members, any particularly difficult power struggles?" Rateah asked the question, though she knew it had been two weeks since Lord Kaervrek had disappeared without a trace.

"The Emperor." Keeper spoke though her usual calm veneer was cracking.

"What of him?" Marek clenched his fists.

"He is currently in residence at the Dark Temple, his flagship and Imperial guard arrived two weeks ago. How could I have not seen it, remembered it?" There was fear in Keepers voice.

"They would dare? The Emperor cannot be defeated." Even as Marek said it, doubt pulled at his chest. His mother's disappearance, the huge empty estate that was her usual haunt had been left unattended, a large layer of dust had formed on the visible surfaces of the home. The slaves either fled or claimed by rival Sith with no one to oppose them. If the Wrath was missing, the Emperor was vulnerable, why else return to his ancestral strong hold.

"I want two full platoons ready to march on the Temple grounds within the hour, call in the reserves if need be, Cipher twelve and Cipher fifteen are in the city on leave, let them know it's been cut short. Lord Marek and I will lead the offensive ourselves." Teah placed a cool hand on Marek's forearm, his open face twisted in anger and uncertainty. The touch brought him back to the present and he smiled a feral grin at Teah. Teah returned it, he looked so like his grandfather in that moment she could almost kiss him.

"The city's getting hot, I'm counting two full platoons boss, and two light bats leading the charge. I like parties as much as the next guy, but I have nothing to wear, and these guys don't look like the dancing type." Gault spoke into his comm from his rooftop vantage point, rain mingling with sweat. He was being followed, somewhere behind him he heard a stealth generator, hard to hide from something he couldn't see.

"Thanks Gault, get the kids and get out of there, I'll have Blizz meet you at the enclave." Ava's disembodied voice sounding in his ear.

"You heard her, get going, I'll see you in a few." Gault felt the knife slide quietly into his side, puncturing lung. A hand plucked his head piece off of his head as he fell, drowning in his own blood.

"Enclave, got it, see you there." A female voice replied through the ear piece. Cipher twelve dropped the headpiece on the gasping Devaronian. He knelt over the alien, blood pooling at his sides, fingers grasping for his side arm.

"I don't think so mate." He un-holstered the pistol and tossed it across the roof, pale shaking red fingers reaching, followed by wet coughing and gasping. "I was warm, had the loveliest little twilek dancer all to myself, paid extra for a private dance." He spoke companionably as his mark died, winking at him like a friend. "You're not nearly so pretty, and now I'm wet, and cold. Although, your little partner, does she look as nice as she sounds?" Gault managed to spit at the question in response. Cipher twelve laughed as he stood up, the deep red Devaronian shivered violently. "Guess I'll find out soon enough won't I?" He shot his mark between the eyes, having lost his taste for blood and gasping. He headed down the lift to the main floor where a squad and his speeder were waiting. "Comms won't be a problem anymore, get to work getting them back online. I have a date at the Mandalorian Enclave."


	62. Chapter 62: Drummond Kaas

T7's metallic screaming echoed in the crumbling room, force waves rocking the foundations of the temple. The dark side was oppressive, not the smoky tendrils she had grown accustom to with Scourge, but a black cold void, it pulled at her very soul, it pulled at her fear, threatening to undo her. T7 shot at one of the many illusions the Emperor had summoned but whirred and blinked out before any true damage could be done. She could not allow her heart to ach for her loyal droid, he could be fixed, but before she could save her friend, save anyone, she had to beat him. She ripped off her long robe, standing in her heavy armor, it was her second skin, lightsaber shining a crystal sky blue, her red eyes blazed. The doppelgangers pressed their attack, icy tendrils of fear ran down her back, she focused her energy, pushing down the dark side that bubbled just under the surface. The Emperor smiled his cruel visage, Kianna answered it with her own malicious sneer, allowing a thread of rage to mix with her torrential force energy, fear gone the copies dissipated and the force propelled her into the air towards the monster.

Scourge inhaled, he could feel her, at the very extremes of his senses he sensed her power. His heart quickened when he felt her controlled release of her dark energy, how it added a deadly ferociousness to her hurricane of light. He smiled, gripping his saber in both hands, his constant companion. He watched the Pureblood trooper, more Sith then she would ever know, the dark side bent to her naturally even if she did not feel it, anyone who would name her abomination and waste her talent was a fool. He drew on the deathknells of the falling Imperial soldiers, forced into bottle necks. The Cathar was somewhere to his left, feral and wild in his bloodlust, fangs bared, his roar as loud as the massive auto canon he carried in his hands. The Miraluka bounty hunter, espoused to the dark side, from her and her Mandalorian he sensed unadulterated joy, love even, as if killing was a dance whose steps were known only to her and her lover. Kira's familiar energy was somewhere behind him, still, focused, peaceful, belying her acrobatic and quick fighting style. The third trooper who had joined them, Riggs, his emotion ran deep, like a thermal detonator, anger and fear drove him, focused him, he had a strong survival instinct, and it served him well. Battle was the only time Doc earned Scourges acceptance, some might argue even his respect, though Scourge would deny it, he juggled the lives of those around him with an expert calm, never faltering, infinitely confident in his abilities.

Scourge leapt and landed in the mouth of the cave the soldiers were pouring out of, He extended the force through his body until it shook the groud throwing Imperials into the walls of the cave, onto the blaster fire of their comrades, impaling them on their officers vibroswords. He slashed through them, creating a pile of corpses at his feet. Finally fear gave way to panic, and Scourge devoured everything, pulling the primal human emotions into himself and pushing it outwards again, their fear turning and killing them, he was the conduit.

"Keep up Rusk!" Ava called through her mirth, Torian took an imperial out at the knees leaving the second open for her to take the shot, which she did, when he came up again the cudgeled end of his staff shattered the Imperials face. He pressed forward and Ava's booster rocket sent her into the air, carpet bombing the next unlucky wave. Torian quickly jumped into the smoke she left, spinning his techstaff, graceful and deadly, Avacynne found herself licking her lips, enjoying the battle, yet yearning for it to end, if only so she could mount her stallion.

"Ugh." Was Rusk's only answer, she glanced behind her to see a bright purple energy beam through his chest. Sith.

"Medic!" Ava called out as she started running towards the new threat, Torian hot on her heels. How did a Sith get behind them?

Doc was running hard, Kolto in hand, only to stop cold when a second red saber was leveled at his throat. The Jedi Kira jumped in front of the doctor force pushing the young armored Sith Pureblood away from the man she loved.

"Go Doc!" She called as she engaged the Sith in earnest.

Ava was shooting, her blasters overheating, she could feel their heat through the palm of her durasteel gloves. The small hooded Sith deflected the blaster bolts, her purple double saber dizzying, until finally the blasters jammed, they were dropped smoking, metal glowing red on the bloodied ground. Ava boosted herself into the air, readying a rocket barrage, she let loose her aerial attack, the Sith spun and flipped out of the way, a wall of force surrounding herself. Her hood fell away, stopping Ava's heart cold. She knew that face, she knew every detail of those tattoos, she knew the half smile, and those calculating grey eyes. She knew her like she knew her own hands. Rateah.

"Gault!" Mako yelled into her comm.

Blizz was keeping the ship hovering at their location, heavy turrets shooting everything, but even in the heavily armored and equipped Mantis, they couldn't stay.

"Imps have comms back online Mako, we stay here any longer and they'll get a fix on us, we have to go!" Cohen called from his seat, desperately jamming any signal within a one hundred meter radius, it was the best he could do. "I have a lock on his comm, we'll pick him up. Blizz get us out of here!"

The normally sunny Jawa only nodded his head, small glowing golden eyes bore a worried look as he maneuvered the ship through Kaas City airspace. A chime in the cockpit indicated anti air missiles were online in the city and trying to get a lock on them. Mako ran in, wiping a tear from her face, and started helping with their jamming signal, keeping the missile lock at bay as they flew towards Gaults comm signal.

Kianna stood over the Emperor, he knelt, clutching his chest and the giant cauterized slash there, and still he laughed, smiling, exposing bloodied teeth.

"You think you've won Jedi? Have you fulfilled my poor deluded slaves vision? How do you know I did not plant the image in his mind?" He croaked out, laughing all the while, mocking her, testing her resolve, introducing doubt.

"Lies, not even you could have known my face three hundred years ago, your bluff won't work with me." She circled him, keeping her saber trained on him. "Yield, repent, and you may yet live." Everything in her body screamed at her to end him, but the Jedi in her had to ask, had to give even this ancient darkness a choice.

"I will live regardless, Jedi, and I will devour you, but not before I obliterate Scourge, I will savor your shared anguish." He opened his arms out, palms open, no saber, no sorcery, no defenses.

Kianna plunged her lightsaber deep into his chest, piercing lung and heart, his eyes never left hers, always laughing, and she felt like she had done exactly what he had wanted her to. His heart beat slowed, and stopped, but still his eyes stared at her mockingly. She tore her eyes away from him, looked up to see a giant stalactite and reached up with the force, slowly she tore it away from the ceiling and brought it crashing down on the Emperor's body. She breathed heavy, staring at the mess of rock, a single gnarled white hand protruding and she half expected him to get up again. She was tempted to hurl his throne at the mess as well when she heard T7 whirr as his systems came back online.

"Jedi=win?" He blipped at her.

"Yeah, T7, we won." It took all of her will to pull her eyes away from the ruble drowned corpse, she sensed nothing from it, but somehow, something sat uneasily in her gut.

The room shook, and a giant piece of the ceiling came crashing down. T7 bumped her, breaking her doubt and unease. She looked down at him, his domed head turning from side to side, urging her forward, ever her stalwart companion and friend. She gave him a quick nod and a small smile that did not touch her eyes and started to run to escape the collapsing temple.

"Teah!" Ava called out desperate, not knowing what else to do, she pulled off her helmet, blonde hair slick with sweat, metal visor locked in place. "It's Ava!"

The maelstrom of death continued unabated around them, Doc reached Rusk, he worked furiously to keep the Changrian alive, but it was shock that was keeping him alive, his spinal cord was severed.

"We need to get him in a tank NOW!" Doc called out, Aaron managed to leave his position to assist with their fallen comrade.

With Kira distracted by the second sith, and Aaron and Rusk off their posts, the Imperials began to take a foothold beyond the cave. Ava took a handful of tentative steps towards Teah, she had not attacked yet, so she assumed Teah recognized her. Her head was swimming with questions, she wanted, more then anything to touch, embrace her lost sister, so that she could confirm she was real. Teah broke eye contact first and gripped her chest, eyebrows furrowed. Sith and Jedi alike looked towards the Temple, even Ava saw it, a giant wave of black erupted from the Temple, like a thermal detonator of Dark force energy. Teah looked back at Ava with a look of restrained terror, she shook her head wordlessly.

"Teah?" Ava asked again, finally close enough she could touch her smooth ivory face.

"I knew you were strong Ava, I always knew. Run." Teah breathed, her white hand softly gripping Ava's forearm, and even through her armor, Ava could feel Teah's warmth, their connection to each other strong as it ever was.

"Ava! Did you hear me? I said Gault is dead, we need to leave, now!" Mako's voice shrilled in her head. It took her a moment to register what had just been said.

"Pull back! Job's done, fall back!" Aric was hollering now, even Torian was backing away from the fight.

I always knew you were strong. Teah's hand was replaced by two strong arms that nearly carried her away from where she was standing. Torian was half dragging and half carrying Ava away who was finally shaken out of her shock.

"I got your last Mako, fall back to pick up, we're heading out." Ava faced forward, back in the present, grabbing her pistols as she ran, a quick adjustment had them back in working order, and she along with Lord Scourge covered the retreat, The rest covered Doc and Aaron who had Rusk gurney. An astromech droid and a Chiss in heavy Jedi armor joined them as they reached the ships.

Teah and Marek arrived in time to see the two ships disappear beyond the clouds, Marek was barking orders to shoot them out of the sky, an edge of panic in his voice. The Emperor was dead, it was impossible for any Force user not to feel it. She stared into the clouds, Ava had been the last person she had expected to see. Working with the enemy no less. She stopped herself, the enemy, once upon a time she had fought the Sith as well, only to be stolen, enslaved and branded. The enemy who had elevated her, brought out her power, trained her, gave her a reason to be. She stared up until the low lying Drummond Kaas clouds broke open, unleashing a frenzied lightning storm, cool rain drops fell hard as knives, as the planet raged and wept for her lost Emperor.


	63. Chapter 63: Voss

"You will not die, my Wrath." The voice filled her broken body, will alone sustaining her. Her body rebelled furiously, unsure how to live on with so much broken and missing. "You will not die, my Wrath."

Through the haze and impossibility of her continued life her eyes flickered open, they met familiar grey, but they were dead eyes, blank. Her brow furrowed for a moment, her empty heart constricting at the sight of him. She had loved him once, madly, deeply, furiously, she had loved those eyes, so full of confidence and passion. A breath shuddered through her, through her single lung. She felt nothing, though she could not pull her eyes away from her dead husbands.

When Ardyth woke next it was on a pallet in a dark stone room. Her eyes met a red patterned face with golden honeycombed eyes, the face was wracked with pain. The longer she stared the more pain the strange red woman experienced.

"Please, I have no more to give." The mystic gasped at her patient.

Ardyth pulled the strange healing energy to her. She breathed with two full lungs, her fingers twitched.

"Stop." The mystic whispered fearfully.

"I will not die." Ardyth rasped with a voice that did not belong to her, "you shall give all you have, for I am the Emperor's Wrath, and I will not die!" Her body groaned as her arm lifted from its prone position at her side, fingers and palm wrapped around cool pulsating throat. Ardyth ripped every last ounce of healing life out of the young Voss leaving nothing but a husk in her wake.

She stood, her body naked save the bandages. Ardyth tore them away and inspected the angry scar that cut from navel to shoulder. She pulled the soft white robes from the dead mystic, and clothed herself in healers garb, her golden eyes flared red as she pulled her twin sabers to her waiting hands. As she left the small dark healing room she pulled the hood over her head, and ignited her sabers, they hungered.


	64. Chapter 64: Drummond Kaas

Marek sat in his mother's study in the Eldrazzi's sprawling estate. The large desk sprawled in front of him, the bookshelves reached the roof behind him, on the opposite wall hung the lightsabers and blaster of his mother's enemies, those foes worthy of recognition and respect. Mementos she had placed in her line of sight to always remind her to remain vigilant, Darth Baras's saber held a prominent position in the collection, her former master. In that moment Darth Vowrawn entered, an old ally and a member of the Dark Council, Sith did not typically die of old age, however up until recently, Darth Vowrawn and his own grandfather, Lord Kaervrek had been notable exceptions.

"My dear boy, I'm afraid Intelligence may only be handed over to a Lord of the Sith." Vowrawn said with obvious faux regret. Marek raised an eyebrow ridge from his reclined position, hands folded in front of his lips, he was in no mood to play the old man's games. "Thus I am here to bestow on you title of Lord of the Sith. Now come greet me like the friend I am, Lord Marek Eldrazzi!" The older Sith allowed a long Cheshire grin when the Wraths son jumped from his seat with a look of obvious triumph.

"Finally, Intelligence requires stability if we are to uncover those who murdered the Emperor."

"Take a lesson from your mother Lord Marek, remain vigilent, the vote was close, only four to three, I can assure you there will be assassination attempts until you prove yourself more than a green boy. Find the perpetrators quickly, crush these enemies, make them an example that will not be forgotten, only then will those who opposed your new position give you a moment of peace." Vowrawn poured himself a snifter of good Dubrillion Brandy and sipped thoughtfully.

"And who are those who would deny me my birth right?" Marek growled, youthful pride insulted at the idea that his position was never a foregone conclusion.

"Darth Oculus, Darth Nox, and Darth Mortis. Mortis will be easy, over half of his informants also work for me, I can easily remove those not loyal, Nox is predictable, she will send apprentice after apprentice, she now has a reputation on Korriban, they refuse to give her anymore students with promise as they are wasted on her idiotic power plays, thus those she sends after you will be weak and fearful, easily dispatched." Vowrawn chuckled at his fellow councilor's folly, she had been close friends with Jaesa Willsaam and ever since her friend's death her paranoia had increased almost tenfold, she would not keep her seat for long at this rate.

"And Oculus?" Marek asked.

"Far more difficult to read, a disciple of Jadus, she is our newest member, powerful, almost impossibly so, I would not put it past her to confront you herself. That is, if she believes you are worth the effort, she has much grander sights in mind." Marek bristled visibly at being thought so little of, the older purblood laughed then swallowed the rest of his drink. "Trust me boy, when it comes to Oculus it is far better to be ignored then to be seen as a threat, win her to your side and you will have no greater ally, anger her and no greater enemy. Let her be, do your duty, build your powerbase in this time of upheaval, fail us and even I shall turn on you, no matter how much I admired your mother." He still wore his mocking grin but his eyes were red like fired iron, his reputation rode on this gamble as much as Mareks.

"I will not fail."

"You are my son, the child of Wrath of the ancient Eldrazzi, if you fail I shall kill you myself." Ardyth lowered the hood of her stolen Voss robe, addressing her son at her full height. "Darth Vowrawn I would speak to my son in private." She gave him a cursory nod, Vowrawn did well in hiding his surprise, even he had begun to believe she had been killed, he should never have doubted her.

"Mother, where have you been?" Marek felt himself shiver when he could only sense a void from her.

"A pilgrimage." She touched her shoulder, pilgrims, it was what the Voss called those who sought the Shrine of healing. "The Emperor spoke to me, he has need of me, and a task for you my child." She placed her hands on her sons shoulder, the action affectionate though immortality had robbed her of any motherly bond she had shared with her son, her one success.

"Mother…the emperor is dead, killed by a Jedi, I saw his body with my own eyes." The statement had him in the air flailing and gasping in his mother's force choke.

"Do not blaspheme child, and do not be a fool. The emperor lives, just as I do, what you saw was his vessel, his voice only, the true emperor, his true form cannot die. Fulfill his will and neither will you." She released him, to his credit he landed on his feet and did not fall, if she could have she would have been proud of him.

"What is the Emperor's will, my Lord Wrath?" Marek replied raw voiced.

"The Jedi, the one who struck down the voice, you shall bring her before him, alive, to face his judgment." She turned to leave, but stopped at the door, "Rateah will betray you, I have seen her treachery in a vision, she alone can destroy what is to come. End her."


	65. Chapter 65: The Emperor's Fortress

Ardyth followed the familiar paths until she stood before the dais, she fell to her knees and waited for his release, the ice tracked down her back stripping away the void until her banished and unused emotions stood trembling before him. Her screams filled the space, fear, anguish, and ecstasy of feeling anything at all again, even if it was abject terror. She writhed and accepted her Emperor's generous gift until her soul had been flayed bare, and the comfort of the void pulled back over her like a blanket.

"Rise my Wrath." His voice was deeper, richer, but it still held an eternity, it still carried the death and voices of an entire planet. It was still the Emperor, it always would be the Emperor.

When she stood she met his eyes, golden pools of emptiness on a crimson face, the face of her father, Lord Kaervrek, the Emperor's new voice.


	66. Chapter 66: The Star Chamber

Shiloh walked the halls of her new home, becoming more familiar every day. The twists and turns of the space station becoming second nature, she moved like a ghost in the vast corridors, face grim, red eyes far away, grey streaked navy hair flowing loose behind her. When she reached the atrium she stopped at the top of the stairs at met the eyes of every person assembled before her. She knew their names, she knew their histories, misfits and idealists, runaways, warriors, ancient and new, some more trustworthy then others, but she felt confident that assembled in front of her where the new founding members of the Star Cabal. This rebirth was not without loss, already there had been casualties.

* * *

"Get him into the Kolto!" Doc hollered, "Kianna get one of Var Suthra's ships on the holo, Rusk needs more then what we have here if he's going to walk again." Kianna nodded, adrenaline still pumping fast in her veins as she force leapt up the stairs and ran into the holo room, she opened a channel with the closest ship with an urgent distress signal.

"What is your status Invictus?" the call was answered almost immediately.

"Requesting emergency docking, we have casualties in need of your med bay." The blue image flickered, explosions could be herd over the transmission, screaming, then the image cut out as the Imperial Navy mobilized and retaliated, decimating the remains of the Republic fleet still foolish enough to remain in proximity to Drummond Kaas. Kianna felt the loss of life on the ship she had just been connected to, a starburst of almost debilitating pain behind her eyes, she ground her teeth and ran to the cockpit, all the while she could swear she could still hear the Emperor's mocking laughter. Scourge was already there, spinning up the Hyperdrive, before they were pulled into Hyperspace, another Republic destroyer broke in half in front of them. Once black was replaced with molten silver streaks Scourge stood and pulled her into his arms.

"We are victorious." He said into her hair. She gripped him tighter, stifling a sob into his chest, the laughter threatening to split her head apart, feeding on the death of the two battle cruisers.

"No we're not" was all she could whisper back to him, clutching him afraid if she let go she would be swept away.

* * *

Cohen washed the bile from his lips, the Bounty Hunter's ship was dark, into its third hour of the night cycle, it was cold and eerily quiet, the engines hummed as they were hurled through Hyperspace. On his way back to his uncomfortable pallet he paused outside the med bay, afraid to look inside. Gault was on one of the beds, body covered with a long white sheet, he could hear Mako crying inside. He hurried past the door, into the cargo bay, Aric was sleeping sitting upright, back against the wall, one arm laid possessively over his sister who had sprawled out on the floor head resting on his lap, his other had was on his auto cannon. Cohen gave Aric a quick nod when his emerald eyes opened, almost glowing in the dark of the ship, he grunted and closed his eyes again, Mitka sighed and shifted while he navigated the mess of sleeping limbs that led back to his spot on the cold durasteel floor.

"Here, take this." Aaron poked him with his canteen.

"Aaron, I can't drink anymore…" Cohen started to push it away when Aaron dropped two small pills into his hand. "What's this?"

"One's anti-nausea, the other will help you sleep." He pushed the canteen towards his bother again, who accepted it.

"It doesn't get easier does it?" Cohen asked after swallowing the pills.

"I'd be worried if it did." Aaron replied taking back his water and drinking.

"Aaron…Listen…I'm sorry…" Cohen felt his older brother's hand on his shoulder, felt a squeeze.

"You did good today." Was his reply, Aaron was never able to hold a grudge, try as he might, Cohen wasn't a soldier, but his courage had been real and he knew all too well how the deaths would haunt him for the rest of his days.

"Then why do I feel like bantha shit?"

"Because you're a good man little brother. Don't ever forget it again." Aaron gave his brother's shoulder one last slap then laid back down on his own pallet.

Instead of laying down Cohen gathered his thin blanket and made his way back to the Med Bay. The door slid open, low auxiliary lights cast a long shadow on the covered body. Mako had stopped crying, though her breathing was ragged and shaky.

"If you look at his face, it just looks like he's sleeping. I keep thinking it's that damn cloned body he had, and that he'll walk in and start complaining about how we're drinking all of his good wine. He was such a scheming bastard, but he was family ya know? He was my brother." Mako's voice hitched in her throat. Cohen saw her take a swig directly from one of the aforementioned wine bottles. She was sitting in a corner on the floor, her knees drawn up to her chin arms hugging herself. He wasn't sure if she was shivering from the cold or from the tears, but he walked over to her and wrapped her in his blanket anyways. He sat beside her.

"I'll look after him for a bit, you sleep Mako. It's been a long day." To his surprise Mako tucked and shifted until she was sitting between his legs and her small frame was leaning against his chest, her head on his shoulder. After a minute her breathing evened out, a minute later his eyes closed.

* * *

"Now's the time to walk away." Was how Shiloh started, "A hard blow has been dealt, a step towards balance and peace, but it's only a first step. If that's the only step you want to take then I say farewell to you and know that the Galaxy is in your debt, the work ahead is not for the faint of heart." She waited, the silence stretched Shiloh expected them all to turn, to escape the madness she was offering.

* * *

Oriah was the first to arrive to the lab, it was a rare thing not to have Lokin about. There was a very distinct change in the lab, she turned on the lights and the change became immediately apparent, the three kolto tanks were gone, replaced by three incubators. She crept towards them holding her breath, inside each one was a tiny baby, each no more than four pounds. One of the tiny infants began to cry, Oriah jumped then gasped at the high thin wail. The lab droid R8-31 flicked to life and did a quick scan of the incubator, a moment later it produced a warmed bottle.

"R8! I'll do that." She held her hand out for the bottle, doing her best to mask her shaking fingers.

"Basic care for the subjects has been designated to me young master, there is no need to interrupt your work." It replied cheerfully.

Oriah grabbed the bottle, and quickly dabbed a few drops into her scanner, "It just looked like it might be too hot. I'll do it R8, I don't mind." She replied with forced cheerfulness.

"As you wish master." R8 returned to its position on the wall.

Oriah's scanner came back as simple chemical free human infant formula, she sighed a relief surprised that there was nothing nefarious about the bottle. She walked towards the incubator marked C, it was the smallest of the triplets, her tiny lungs forcing out her tiny voice, defenseless, alone, Oriah was sure she had never felt human affection, Lokin having likely had the droids move the infants from tank to incubator.

"Shhhhh, it's ok, I have your milk little one." Oriah whispered, she reached her arms towards the child and wrapped her tightly in a warm blanket, the child stopped crying at Oriah's touch. Careful not to disturb the oxygen tubing, she lifted the baby into her arms and guided the bottle into her greedy little mouth. "There you go. I'm Oriah by the way, Oriah Quinn. What's your name? We can't very well call you C your whole life." The dark blue newborn eyes blinked up at her as she sucked on her bottle. "Do you like Corinne? I've always liked the name Corinne, and if you say it with a Naboo accent it just rolls right off the tongue." The baby blinked at her listening intently. "I'll take that as a yes then. Corinne, lovely to meet you."

Oriah started pacing and gently rocking the feather light infant, "I promise he will not hurt you or your sisters. You're not puppets, you're perfect little people, and perfect little people need to live a life of their choosing." She kissed the velvety soft forehead, the wispy thin hair tickled her nose and she inhaled the sweet powdery scent that was seemingly unique only to newborns.

"You're a natural." Lokin said from the door. "How are her vitals? For some reason they were failing last night even though there was no biological reason."

"They are all within acceptable limits, Doctor." Lokin came to stand beside her, and then peered curiously at the eating baby.

"Perhaps it wasn't complete hokum. There are some studies that show physical touch, specifically skin to skin touch, can be medically beneficial to a struggling pre-term human infant. I had never seen anything of the sort done while I worked in Imperial hospitals, but perhaps the approach has it merits. Keep up the good work Miss Quinn." He smiled at her, eyes dancing, genuinely pleased.

Oriah forced a smile back, even though it caused her stomach to churn, there would be no running now.

* * *

"The Empire, and the Republic both are rife with corruption, the Sith and the Jedi Council's hard lined dogmatic views are out of touch and destructive. A new way of thinking must emerge if the Galaxy is to survive, the stifled voices of reason must be heard if change is to be effected. These voices exist, on both sides of the divide."

* * *

"It's treason if we join."

"It's treason if they find out."

"We hunted down traitors, Tavus and his crew, it's how we spent our first year, how are we different if we join? Tavus left the Republic for the same reasons, and Force damn him but he was right! So how are we going to be different, how are you going to look Garza in the eye and lie, and pretend like your oath means something?"

"We're not Tavus, we're not selling anybody out to the Empire. Aric, look at what they did to the Deadeyes, Dagger Wing, how long before Havoc become a scapegoat or a bartering chip, or worse framed for something we didn't do because it's easier to blame the mindless spec ops soldiers then to be honest. I promised to serve the Republic, how are we keeping our oaths when the people giving the orders aren't serving the Republic? If you ask me taking out the cancers that are leading the Republic is one of the best services we could do for it."

Aric was still holding the doorknob that led out of their private rooms into the greater space station, Shiloh wanted to talk to everyone and decisions had to be finalized. He could almost feel the fire coming off of her. He broke Mitka's intense glare with a hard and fierce kiss.

"Then let's get to it Major." He opened the door for her, grinning at her vaguely dazed face.

"You're in? Are you sure? You just said…"

"I'm sure babe; I just needed to make sure you were." He kissed her again, more softly this time and led her into the hallway.

* * *

Ava pulled out an old musty smelling ruck sack, she hadn't looked at it let alone thought about it in years. She pulled it open and took out the pistol, an old cheap blaster from an old cheap man, but when Ava had taken it off his corpse it had made her rich, powerful. She had never been back to Coruscant after her and Teah had fled.

"What's that?" Torian was leaning against the doorway.

"First trophy, first blaster." Ava targeted Torian through the cheap sight, knowing if she pulled the trigger the shot would go wide by almost ten centimeters, it really was an awful blaster.

Torian came and sat beside her on the bed, he took the blaster from her, and after a few minutes raised an eyebrow and laughed.

"You actually killed people with this thing?"

"Don't laugh at me! And yes, I did, a good many people. Teah and me, after we left Tython, we were going to change the Galaxy, we didn't need the Jedi or the Sith, we would use the Force the way we wanted to. We would protect the poor, the people no one ever sees, the ones who had never seen a Jedi because the senate didn't send aid that far down into the lower levels. Then we killed a senator, a filthy ugly man, who prayed on little girls, alien girls especially. We killed him, but he wasn't the only one, and suddenly the senate started sending the law down there, not food, not help, just more guns and thugs, and more little girls died, and no one cared but us." While she had been talking Ava pulled out a small eye veil, pale blue shimmersilk, beads and tiny bells chimed together delicately, her one keepsake of Tython, it was so small in her hands now, she had been so young, too young, she wondered if Master Elliah remembered her.

"They took her, I thought they would kill her, but she's a Sith, leading armies, and here I am after everything, I'm right back where we started. Thinking I can change the Galaxy." She felt a drop run down her cheek dropping on the silk, changing the powder blue to navy.

"She let you live, she's still your sister, Cyare." He wiped the tear from her cheek.

"We'll see what she is. First things first, let's give Gault a proper send off, then let's go see what this Shiloh has to say." They stood up and headed for the airlock, their ship was stopped at a safe distance from the Dark Nebula. Gault waited clutching his sniper rifle, wearing two beskar gloves, and then Tyresius Lokai the man who died twice, was given a traditional Mandalorian funeral. He would have hated it, and Ava smiled.

* * *

"So I ask you to join me in this wild dream, a dream we will likely never see come true, join me as we are hunted by all sides, where we will be called traitors, blasphemers, and worse because we believe in true freedom, in a Force unbound by dogma." Shiloh pulled out the black codex, she placed her fingers in the allotted slots and an image filled the atrium.

"The Star Cabal is as old as The Republic and the Empire our secrets stretch as far back as the founding of these two civilizations. The reason we are so feared by Sith and Jedi however, is because we have this." She pointed at the projection.

"The Force as any Jedi or Sith will tell you is the living energy of our galaxy, it exists everywhere, in everything, in everyone, but only a small percentage of sentient individuals are able to manipulate it. This is the key. Or rather the blue print; the equation, force mystery, magic, however you want to explain it, was found in an ancient cave on Tython, before Jedi and Sith, before the first dogmatic wars that split this galaxy apart. This is the key to unlocking that Force energy in every sentient being, that is or will ever be."


End file.
